ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF MELANIN PRODUCED BY A Pseudomonas balearica STRAIN

A. ZERRAD¹, J. ANISSI², J. GHANAM³, K. SENDIDE⁴, M. EL HASSOUNI⁵*
¹Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Faculté des Sciences Dhar el Mehrez, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie, Unité de Biotechnologie des Microorganismes, BP 1796, Fez, Morocco.
²Al Akhawayn University, School of Science and Engineering, Laboratory of Biotechnology, Av. Hassan II, P.O. Box 104, Ifrane, Morocco.
³Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Faculté des Sciences Dhar el Mehrez, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie, Unité de Biotechnologie de l’environnement, BP 1796, Fez, Morocco.
⁴Al Akhawayn University, School of Science and Engineering, Laboratory of Biotechnology, Av. Hassan II, P.O. Box 104, Ifrane, Morocco.
⁵Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, Faculté des Sciences Dhar el Mehrez, Laboratoire de Biotechnologie, Unité de Biotechnologie des Microorganismes, BP 1796, Fez, Morocco.
* Corresponding Author : mohammed.elhassouni@usmba.ac.ma

Received : 06-11-2014     Accepted : 03-12-2014     Published : 09-12-2014
Volume : 5     Issue : 1       Pages : 87 - 94
J Biotechnol Lett 5.1 (2014):87-94

Keywords : melanin, L-tyrosine, FT-IR, 1H NMR, antioxidant activity, antimicrobial activity, Erwinia, Pseudomonas balearica
Academic Editor : Dr Merzouki Mohammed, Mohammed ELMZIBRI, Małgorzata Cytrynska, Xiaolei Chen, Daniel Ruiz-molina
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : The study was supported by University Sidi Mohamed Ben Addellah. The authors are thankful to the CURI for the technical help in carrying out the spectroscopic analysis and DNA sequencing. Thanks to Dr. M. El Mzibri, Dr. N. Hamamouch and Dr. F.Z. El Hassan
Author Contribution : No conflict of interest is declared.

In this paper, a water soluble melanin is produced by Pseudomonas balearica strain U7, isolated from the marine green alga Ulva lactuca. Up to 110 mg/l of melanin is produced in the extracellular semi synthetic medium, typically containing L-tyrosine as sole carbone source. The quantity and structure of the extracted melanin were determined using UV-visible, FT-IR and 1H NMR. This melanin showed an antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and the phytopathogenic strains Erwinia chrysanthemi and Erwinia carotovora. In addition, the extracted melanin exhibited considerable scavenging activity of the stable free radical DPPH. This is the first report on characterization of melanin produced by a novel strain of Pseudomonas balearica and its antibacterial effect against a phytopathogenic bacteria. Our study suggests that the strain P. balearica is a potential source of antioxidant melanin production for cosmetic and pharmaceutical uses while the use of P. balearica as potential biological control against phytopathogenic Erwinia should be exploited in agriculture.