Antifungal Activity of Actinomycetes Isolated from Sediments of the Caspian Sea

Background and Actinomycetes were always considered as a source of essential new antibiotic producers and secondary metabolite in pharmaceutical industries. This study aimed to isolate antibiotic producing actinomycetes from sediments of the Caspian Sea and investigate their potential as antifungal metabolites production. Sediments of the Caspian Sea were collected from 5 and 10 meters depth. Samples were diluted and cultured in Starch Casein Agar (SCA) selective media. The strains were isolated and purified using morphological and microscopy methods. The primary screening was performed by the cross streak method in order to find the active strains. The produced metabolites were extracted from active strains and antifungal activities were evaluated against pathogen fungus by the disc diffusion method. Of the sediments, 20 strains were isolated and identified. All of the seven strains were determined as active actinomycetes in the primary screening. Results in the secondary screening showed that the active isolates had a good antifungal effect on Candida sp. and Aspergillus sp. The results revealed that the strains MN1, MN2 and MN3 were shown more antifungal activities than the others. Results of this study declared that sediments of the Caspian Sea are rich in actinomycetes, active in the case of new antifungal compounds production, that need to be identified and purified.