Optimization of Cultural Parameters for Enhanced Production of Antimicrobial Bioactive Metabolites by Arthrobacter sp. SAS16

Objectives: To make molecular identification of Arthrobacter sp., an actinomycetes isolated from the rhizospheric region of Bhitarkanika mangrove forest and production optimization for the enhanced antimicrobial bioactive metabolite produced by the isolate. Methods: Submerged fermentation by shake flask method in starch casein broth was employed to optimize the environmental and nutritional parameters. Agar well diffusion method was employed to study the effect of different environmental parameters such as incubation period, pH, temperature, salt concentration, and influence of various nutrients (carbon and nitrogen sources) on antimicrobial metabolite production. Findings: The 16S rDNA sequence was analyzed using BLAST of NCBI data base and found to be a member of Arthrobacter sp., an actinomycete and named as Arthrobacter sp. SAS16. Again, the sequence was deposited in NCBI Genbank under the Accession Number KR401260. The production of the antimicrobial metabolite was maximum at eight days of incubation at 30ºC in alkaline medium (pH 8.0) using glycerol (1%), casein (0.5%) as carbon and nitrogen source respectively in presence of 2% sodium chloride. Application/Improvements: The isolate Arthrobacter sp. SAS16 isolated from Bhitarkanika mangrove forest, Odisha, India, possesses remarkable potential as a source of novel antimicrobial metabolites. Further, chemical and structural characterization of the antimicrobial metabolites produced by the actinomycetes is highly essential.