You are here:
ISOLATION AND DIVERSITY OF ACTINOMYCETES IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY
Citation:
Takizawa, M., R. Colwell, AND R. Hill. ISOLATION AND DIVERSITY OF ACTINOMYCETES IN THE CHESAPEAKE BAY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-93/223.
Description:
Chesapeake Bay was investigated as a source of actinomycetes to creen for production of novel bioactive compounds. he presence of relatively large populations of actinoplanetes, chemotype IID actinomycetes in Chesapeake Bay sediment samples indicates that is an eminently suitable ecosystem from which to isolate actinomycetes for screening programs. ctinomycetes were isolated from sediment samples collected in Chesapeake Bay with an isolation medium containing nalidixic acid, which proved to be more effective than heat pretreatment of samples. ctinomycete counts ranged from a high of 1.4 x 10 5 to a ow of 1.8 x 10 2 CFU ml of sediment. ctinomycetes constituted o.15 to 8.63% of the culturable microbial community. he majority of isolates from the eight stations studies were actinoplanetes (i.e. chemotype IId,a nd 249 of these isolates were obtained in a total of 198 actinomycete isolates. ntimicrobial activity profiles indicated that diverse populations of actinoplantetes were present at each station. NA hybrizidation studies showed considerable diversity among isolates between stations, but indicated that actinoplanete strains making up populations at nearby stations were more similar to each other than to populations sampled at distant stations. he diversity of actinoplanetes and the ease with which these organisms were isolated from Chesapeake Bay sediments make this a useful source of these actinomycetes.