ANTIMICROBIAL AND DYEING POTENTIAL OF PRODIGIOSIN OBTAINED FROM MULTI-DRUG RESISTANT SERRATIA NEMATODIPHILA EXHIBITING LOW TOXICITY

Abstract

The industrial production of a commodity varies proportionally with its demand in the commercial market. Recently, a strong inclination of consumers towards green products has led to the adaptation of sustainable production processes for various products including pigments. Prodigiosin is one such pigment that has raised curiosity among researchers for its dyeing potential as well as its antioxidant and anticancer activities. In the current study, the biomedical applications and dyeing potential of prodigiosin, obtained from Serratia nematodiphila, was studied. The antimicrobial resistance profile of the prodigiosin producer was also carried out owing to the widespread antibiotic resistance in nature. Interestingly, S. nematodiphila isolated from garden soil was found to be a multi-drug resistant strain. The pigment extracted from this isolate also showed broad spectrum antibacterial activity. Antifungal activity was also observed against one test culture used in our study. The pigment showed a considerably high LC50 value of 0.5mg/mL, indicating its possible use for various biomedical applications below the LC50 concentration. Furthermore, it showed good dyeing potential without the use of a mordant. The dye was retained even after treatment with a mild detergent. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of prodigiosin was confirmed after dyeing and treatment of the cloth with mild detergent, based on SASMIRA test. Thus, our results indicate considerable potential of prodigiosin for industrial application.