A Simplistic Screening Assay of Antimicrobial Compounds and Enzymatic Activity from Local Soil Microbes

Antibiotics production is the most emerging field worldwide with a constant need for the new ones to fight the microbial resistance. In this context, the research was pursued to isolate, characterize and screen for promising antibiotic-producing microbes from local soil. The soil bacterial isolates (S1, S2, S3,S4, and S5) and fungal isolates (F1, F2, F4, F6, and F7) were selected and screened for antimicrobial activity against the Test bacteria by agar well diffusion and disc diffusion methods. Assays for Extracellular enzymes including Protease, Lipase, Lecithinase, Cellulase, and Amylase following the substrate hydrolysis were performed on different Agars such as Casein Agar, Tween 80 Agar, Egg Yolk Agar, Carboxymethylcellulose Agar, and Starch Agar respectively. The isolated microorganisms which produced antimicrobial compounds were identified as Bacillus, Actinomycetes, Streptomycetes, H. werneckii, A. niger, A. flavus, A. fumigatus and P. notatum on the basis of their cultural and microscopic characteristics and their optimum growth. The antimicrobial activity was determined by varying pH and NaCl concentrations. The research work revealed that among all isolates Actinomycetes (21%), P. notatum (29%) and H. werneckii (21%) showed maximum bioactivities against the test organisms and all isolates exhibited at least four of the tested enzymes