The strain VUK-A was isolated from a sediment sample of the Coringa mangrove ecosystem was identified as Streptomyces cheonanensis based on morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular properties. Chemical investigation of the secondary metabolites of the strain Streptomyces cheonanensis VUK-A has led to the segregation of two bioactive compounds, namely 2-Methyl butyl propyl phthalate (1) and Diethyl phthalate (2) using column chromatography. The chemical structure of the active compounds was established on the basis of spectroscopic analysis, including 1H NMR and 13C NMR spectroscopies, FTIR and EIMS. The antimicrobial activity of the bioactive compounds produced by the strain was tested against a wide variety of bacteria and fungi and expressed in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration. The compounds (1&2) were active against all the bacteria tested, and the best activity of compound 1 was recorded against Proteus vulgaris (4 µg/ml). Compounds (1&2) were active against dermatophytes and fungi but compound 1 displayed high antifungal activity against Candida albicans (8 µg/ml) and Fusarium solani (16 µg/ml) compared to standard antifungal agents. The cytotoxicity of the bioactive compound 1 was tested against MDA-MB-231, OAW-42, HeLa, and MCF-7 cell lines. The highest activity of 100 µM by compound 1 was recorded against HeLa cancer cell lines. In fact, this is the first report of 2-Methyl butyl propyl phthalate from the genus Streptomyces.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s13205-016-0398-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An actinobacterial strain VL-RK_09 having potential antimicrobial activities was isolated from a mango orchard in Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh (India) and was identified as Arthrobacter kerguelensis. The strain A. kerguelensis VL-RK_09 exhibited a broad spectrum of in vitro antimicrobial activity against bacteria and fungi. Production of bioactive metabolites by the strain was the highest in modified yeast extract malt extract dextrose broth, as compared to other media tested. Lactose (1%) and peptone (0.5%) were found to be the most suitable carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively, for the optimum production of the bioactive metabolites. The maximum production of the bioactive metabolites was detected in the culture medium with an initial pH of 7, in which the strain was incubated for five days at 30 °C under shaking conditions. Screening of secondary metabolites obtained from the culture broth led to the isolation of a compound active against a wide variety of Gram-positive and negative bacteria and fungi. The structure of the first active fraction was elucidated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The compound was identified as S,S-dipropyl carbonodithioate. This study is the first report of the occurrence of this compound in the genus Arthrobacter.

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The actinobacterial strain Streptomyces lavendulocolor VHB-9 was isolated from granite mine soil samples of Khammam district, Telangana state, India. The strain was identified based on detailed microorphological, cultural and phylogenetic analysis. Bioactive guided isolation of the secondary metabolites of the strain was carried out by growing the strain in optimized medium (0.5% lactose, 0.5% peptone, 0.05% K 2 HPO 4 , 0.2% CaCO 3 with pH adjusted to 7.0). Separation and purification of the active fractions from the crude ethyl acetate extract was carried out by silica gel column chromatography and resulted in the isolation of two active fractions. Structural elucidation of the two (B2 and B3) active compounds was carried out by FT-IR, Mass and NMR spectroscopy and were identified as Bis (7-methyloctyl) phthalate and (Z)-3-aminoacrylic acid. The antimicrobial activity of the bioactive compounds produced by S. lavendulocolor VHB-9 was expressed in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration against opportunistic pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Both fractions exhibited good antimicrobial potential against the bacteria and fungi tested.

Aims: To optimize the cultural parameters for enhanced amylase production by Streptomyces cheonanensis VUK-A.

A rare actinobacterium was isolated from Nizampatnam mangrove ecosystem of Andhra Pradesh, India, and was screened for its ability to produce bioactive compounds. The potential strain was identified as VJDS-3 by polyphasic taxonomy. Purification of the biologically active compounds by column chromatography led to the isolation of three compounds, namely methoxy ethyl cinnamate (ethyl(E)-3-(4-methoxyphenyl)acrylate) (), 4-hydroxy methyl cinnamate (methyl(E)-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)acrylate) () and 4-methylbenzoic acid (). The structure of the compounds was elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis including FTIR, EIMS, HNMR andCNMR spectroscopies. The antimicrobial activity of the bioactive compounds produced by the strain was tested against a panel of bacteria and fungi, and expressed in terms of minimum inhibitory concentration. Compound (R1) exhibited higher antimicrobial potential (50 µg/ml) against , and compared to R2 and R3. Antioxidant activity of compounds was determined by DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities. The results revealed that compound R3 effectively scavenged DPPH (73.08 ± 1.29) and ABTS (99.74 ± 0.00) radicals at a concentration of 25 and 50 µg/ml, respectively. Antidiabetic and anti-obesity activities were evaluated by inhibitory potential of compounds against alpha-glucosidase, alpha-amylase and pancreatic lipase by spectrophotometric assays. Compound R1 showed effective inhibition against alpha-glucosidase (66.8 ± 1.2) at 20 µg/ml while moderate to weak activities were found against alpha-amylase and pancreatic lipase. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the isolation of supra said compounds from the genus

An actinomycete strain with a great potential to produce bioactive compounds isolated from a laterite soil was identified as Streptomyces sp. MSL based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Secondary metabolites produced by the strain in optimized nutrient broth were extracted and analyzed by chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques. Among the different fractions, four diols, viz., (1) (2R,3R)-2,3-Butanediol, (2) (2R,3S)-2,3-Butanediol, (3) 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-butanediol (Pinacol), and (4) (3R)-1,3-Butanediol exhibited good antimicrobial activity. These compounds inhibited growth of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as fungi tested. Minimum inhibitory concentration of these compounds was also determined against test micro-organisms in vitro. This is the first report on the occurrence of 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-butanediol (Pinacol) in the genus Streptomyces. This paper also reports the extraction, purification, and antimicrobial spectrum of diols fractionated from the culture filtrate of Streptomyces sp. MSL.

Objectives: To optimize the cultural parameters for improved production of amylase by Arthrobacter kerguelensis VL-RK_09 isolated from Mango orchards of Vissannapet, Krishna District, A.P., India. Methods: The strain A. kerguelensis was screened initially for amylase production on Inorganic salts starch agar medium (ISP-4). The enzyme assay was performed as per the procedure described by Bernfield (1955). One amylase unit equals to that amount of enzyme needed to release 1 mg of reducing sugar (maltose as standard) for 15 min at 37°C. Attempts were also made to optimize cultural parameters such as pH, temperature, carbon and nitrogen sources affecting the production of amylase by the strain. Results: Maximal yields of amylase were recorded after 4 days of incubation in Inorganic salts starch medium with initial pH 7.0 and temperature 35°C. ISP-4 broth amended with sorghum flour (2%) and yeast extract (0.5%) with initial pH 7.0 inoculated with Arthrobacter kerguelensis VL-RK_09 and incubated at 30°C for 96 h resulted in improved production of amylase from initial 4.0 U to 10.4 U/mL. Conclusion: This is the first report on the production and optimization of amylase by A. kerguelensis and further studies on purification and characterization of the enzyme are in progress.