ANTI-BACTERIAL PROPERTY OF A CORAL-ASSOCIATED BACTERIUM Bacillus sp. AGAINST CORAL PATHOGENIC

Marine organisms such as corals are frequently colonized by bacteria that may be pathogenic to them. One of the means by which they are able to combat microbial attack is by chemical defense. A number of metabolites obtained from algae and invertebrates may be produced by associated microorganisms. The purpose of study was to isolate and characterize of coral-associated bacteria having antibacterial potency against BBD coral disease. A coral-associated bacterium, KM2 isolate, was successfully screened for antibacteria production against indigenous BBD pathogenic bacteria based on PCR amplification of the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase gene and was identified as closely related to Bacilus sp based on its 16S rDNA.. KM2 strain was found to inhibit the growth of coral pathogenic BBD bacteria tested Myroides odoratimimus strain BBD1, Bacillus algicola Strain BBD2 and Marine Alcaligenes bacterium Strain BBD3. This bacterium was found to inhibit the growth of all those BBD coral pathogenic bacteria