= ^Äëíê~Åí= A marine isolate of jáÅêçÅçÅÅìë MCCB 104 has been identified as an aquaculture probiotic antagonistic to sáÄêáç. In the present study different carbon and nitrogen sources and growth factors in a mineral base medium were optimized for enhanced biomass production and antagonistic activity against the target pathogen, sáÄêáç=Ü~êîÉóá, following response surface methodology (RSM). Accordingly the minimum and maximum limits of the selected variables were determined and a set of fifty experiments programmed employing central composite design (CCD) of RSM for the final optimization. The response surface plots of biomass showed similar pattern with that of antagonistic activity, which indicated a strong correlation between the biomass and antagonism. The optimum concentration of the carbon sources, nitrogen sources, and growth factors for both biomass and antagonistic activity were glucose (17.4 g/L), lactose (17 g/L), sodium chloride (16.9 g/L), ammonium chloride (3.3 g/L), and mineral salts solution (18.3 mL/L). © KSBB hÉóïçêÇëW=éêçÄáçíáÅ, ~åí~Öçåáëã, Micrococcus, êÉëéçåëÉ=ëìêÑ~ÅÉ=ãÉíÜçÇçäçÖó, ÅÉåíê~ä=ÅçãéçëáíÉ=ÇÉëáÖå, ~èì~ÅìäíìêÉ= = = = = fkqolar`qflk= Vibriosis has been recognized as the major systemic bacterial disease of shrimp and prawn larvae in hatcheries [1][2][3]. Administration of antibiotics, although recognized as one of the management measures, leads to multiple antibiotic resistance among aquaculture pathogens [1,4,5] and the same is likely to be transferred to human pathogens too. Therefore, as an alternative strategy in the management of vibrios, application of biological control agents, especially antagonistic probiotics has been suggested [6,7]. Micrococcus MCCB 104 isolated and identified in our previous work [8] as a novel antagonistic probiotic suitable for tropical culture sys-
G`çêêÉëéçåÇáåÖ=~ìíÜçêTel: +91-484-2381120 Fax: +91-484-2381120 e-mail: bsingh@md3.vsnl.net.in † Present address: Centre for Bioseparation Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632 014, Tamil Nadu, India tems was found to inhibit a range of vibrios. As the next step, optimization of carbon, nitrogen and other growth factors were to be accomplished for enhanced production of biomass and antagonistic activity under aerated conditions as the organism was a strict aerobe. This work was undertaken accordingly with the above objective by employing response surface methodology (RSM).RSM is an empirical statistical modeling technique employed for multiple regression analysis using quantitative data obtained from properly designed experiments to solve multivariable equations simultaneously. It is used for studying the effect of several factors influencing the responses by varying them simultaneously and carrying out a limited number of experiments and their by it can improve product yield and reduce process variability, time, cost etc. This technique has been used for designing media for the production bacteriocins [9], enzymes [10], antibiotics [11], polysaccharides [12], and organic acids [13]. This pape...