Comparative study of antibacterial activity of two different earthworm species, Perionyx excavatus and Pheretima posthuma against pathogenic bacteria

Abstract

Disease outbreaks are being increasingly recognized as a significant constraint on aquaculture production and trade affecting the economic development of the sector in many countries. Extracting and using biologically active compounds from earthworms has traditionally been practiced by indigenous people throughout the world. The aim of the present study was to shown antimicrobial activity through earthworm extract against fish bacterial pathogens. In total, 8 bacterial strains i.e. 6 gram negative viz. Aeromonas hydrophila, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, E.coli, Enterobacter aerogens and Shigella sp. and 2 gram positive viz. Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus were identified. The extract of earthworm Perionyx excavatus, Pheretima posthuma were prepared and antimicrobial activity of the extract was determined by antimicrobial well diffusion assay. After 24 hrs of incubation period, it was observed that earthworm extract showed antibacterial activity against isolated bacterial strains. Among earthworm extract of two different species, the maximum zone of inhibition was shown against A. hydrophila by Perionyx excavatus (18.33± 0.66 mm) and P. posthuma (16.66±0.33). P. excavatus showed antibacterial activity against all pathogenic bacteria except Shigella spp. However on the other hand, P.posthuma showed antibacterial activity against A. hydrophila, P. fluorescens, E.coli, and S. aureus. The study has proved that earthworm extract can be effectively used for suppression of bacterial infection in fishes and that it can used as potential antimicrobial drug against commercial antibiotic resistance bacteria.

Therapeutic Values of Earthworm Species Extract from Azad Kashmir as Anticoagulant, Antibacterial, and Antioxidant Agents

“…Earthworms are terrestrial, important soil-dwelling organisms and considered ecosystem engineers [ 68 ]. The results of the current study prove that extract of various earthworm species can inhibit bacterial growth and have potent antioxidant and anticoagulant effects, and our results are consistent with the outcomes of Bansal et al [ 69 ] and Bansal et al [ 70 ].…”

Antibacterial and bacteriostatic potential of coelomic fluid and body paste of Pheretima posthuma (Vaillant, 1868) (Clitellata, Megascolecidae) against ampicillin resistant clinical bacterial isolates

“…Our next step was to determine the antibacterial potential of PCF and PBP, it was observed that three Gram positive (B. cereus, S. pyogenes and B. pumilus) and two Gram negative (P. putida and N. gonorrhoeae) showed sensitivity for PCF (100 µl/disc) while S. aureus, P. aeruginosa (Gram positive) and E. coli (Gram negative) were found resistant. Similarly, the findings of Vasanthi et al (2013) and Bansal et al (2015) support the results of sensitivity but regret the resistant behavior of S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and E. coli. The current results of PBP (100 µl/disc) antibacterial potential was much better than PCF because only one bacterial strain (P. aeruginosa) was resistant while all other were appeared either sensitive or intermediate.…”

Pheretimoid earthworms (Clitellata: Megascolecidae) cultivated in a vermifacility in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, with description of a new species

“…Soil aggregate stability and plant growth were also positively affected by earthworm activities such as burrowing, mixing, and casting as in the case of M. guillelmi (Yu et al 2008). In addition, M. posthuma was also reported to bioprocess toxic compounds (Das et al 2015) and its extracts and casts exhibited antimicrobial activity (Kumar et al 2012;Bansal et al 2015). Casts of M. tschiliensis tschiliensis were also characterized to have higher nutrient content associated with higher gut microbial composition (Teng et al 2012).…”