Scilight Press

To overcome the problem of multidrug resistance, the most serious concern is developing new drugs with different modes of action by exploring potent microorganisms from different sources. The present study was carried out to isolate potential fungi with the ability to produce antimicrobial compounds. A total of eight fungal isolates were isolated from Manikaran hot spring and screened for antimicrobial activity. Out of them, three were found to exhibit antimicrobial activity against one of the three test organisms tested viz., gram-positive- Staphylococcus aureus (MTCC No. 3160), gram-negative- Escherichia coli (MTCC No. 1687) and the fungus Candida albicans (MTCC No. 183) during primary screening. Fungal isolates MKH 4 and MKH 12 were inhibitory against E. coli and S. aureus (antibacterial) and MKH 16 was inhibitory against C. albicans (antifungal). Analysis of the crude metabolites of MKH 4, MKH 12 and MKH by thin layer chromatography (TLC) showed the presence of bioactive components with Rf value of 0.88, 0.80, 0.74, respectively. The potential isolates MKH 4, MKH 12 and MKH 16 were studied
morphologically and microscopically and identified as Aspergillus sp. and could be studied further for enhancing its potential of antibiotic production.