GROWTH INHIBITION OF MEDICALLY ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT BACTERIA BY SPONGE-ASSOCIATED BACTERIA

Abstract

The improper and uncontrolled uses of antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria have resulted in the
occurrence of Multi Drugs Resistant bacteria. There is now an urgency to find alternative antibiotics
to combat these bacteria. The metabolites from microorganisms are a rapidly growing field, due, at
least in part, to the suspicion that a number of metabolites obtained from algae and invertebrates may
be produced by associated microorganisms. Therefore, there is a shift in the search for secondary
metabolites from terrestrial to marine environment. Sponge-associated microorganisms are among of
the most interesting and promising marine natural product sources, which produce polyketide and non
ribosomal peptide products with various biological activities. In this study, marine bacteria were
isolated from sponge Haliclona sp. collected from North Java Sea, and were screened for antibacterial
activity against MDR strains. One out of 32 bacterial isolates were successfully screened and were
found to be active against MDR strains, strain Escherichia coli and strain Proteus sp., respectively.
These active isolates were also capable of amplifying NRPS gene fragments necessary for the
biosynthesis of non ribosomal peptides. The identification results revealed that the active isolates are
Arthrobacter sp.