title: Antifungal activity of violacein purified from a novel strain of Chromobacterium sp. NIIST (MTCC 5522).
abstract: A novel strain of Chromobacterium sp. NIIST (MTCC 5522) producing high level of purple blue bioactive compound violacein was isolated from clay mine acidic sediment. During 24 h aerobic incubation in modified Luria Bertani medium, around 0.6 g crude violacein was produced per gram of dry weight biomass. An inexpensive method for preparing crystalline, pure violacein from crude pigment was developed (12.8 mg violacein/L) and the pure compound was characterized by different spectrometric methods. The violacein prepared was found effective against a number of plant and human pathogenic fungi and yeast species such as Cryptococcus gastricus, Trichophyton rubrum, Fusarium oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium expansum, and Candida albicans. The best activity was recorded against Trichophyton rubrum (2 -g/ml), a human pathogen responsible for causing athlete-s foot infection. This is the first report of antifungal activity of purified violacein against pathogenic fungi and yeast.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India.
authors.forename: Anju
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasidharan
authors.affiliation: Agroprocessing and Natural Products Division, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India.
authors.forename: Nishanth Kumar
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Sasidharan
authors.affiliation: Agroprocessing and Natural Products Division, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India.
authors.forename: Dileepkumar Bhaskaran Nair Saraswathy
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Amma
authors.affiliation: Chemical Sciences Division, CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India.
authors.forename: Radhakrishnan Kokkuvayil
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Vasu
authors.affiliation: Environmental Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India.
authors.forename: Anupama Vijaya
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Nataraja
authors.affiliation: Environmental Technology, Thiruvananthapuram, 695 019, India. krishna@niist.res.in.
authors.forename: Krishnakumar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bhaskaran
mesh_terms: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002861:Chromobacterium / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D000077215:Clay; D005658:Fungi / Q000187:drug effects; D007211:Indoles / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010802:Phylogeny; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D000538:Aluminum Silicates; D000935:Antifungal Agents; D007211:Indoles; C063155:violacein; D000077215:Clay
keywords: Chromobacterium; antimycotic; chromatography; purification; violacein