Original Articles
T. Sudhakar, S. Karpagam and J
Abstract
Pseudomonads are well known for their degradative abilities and play an important role in the environmental cleanup and they are well known for their opportunistic pathogenic properties. The characteristic feature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the production of soluble pigments like Pyocyanin, which is an secondary metabolite that is produced in both solid and liquid culture media. Pyocyanin isolated from Pseudomonas aeruginosa SU1 showed antibacterial activity. The study also includes optimization of the pigment production on various solid and liquid media. Further, the pigment pyocyanin was extracted using the solvent chloroform extraction method. The spectrophotometric analysis of the pigment showed maximum absorbance at 521nm. The antimicrobial property of the pigment was found similar to siderophore. They include specific depression under conditions of Fe3+ deficiency, and a very high affinity for Fe3+, together with a lack of affinity for Fe2+. The properties of the pigment make it an important bioactive compound which has the ability to arrest the electron transport chain of fungi and exhibit antibacterial activity towards E.coli, Proteus spp. S aureus and klebsiella spp..