Production of Antifungal Gelatinase by Enterococcus durans S2C and its Potential Role in the Biological Control

Abstract

Probiotic bacteria are good sources for antimicrobial and are normal microbiota of the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans. Enterococci are found everywhere in nature and have been utilized as probiotics in the food industry. In the present study, Enterococcus durans S2C strain was isolated from raw cow’s milk using the culture-dependent method and evaluated for antifungal properties. The strain S2C showed promising extracellular proteolytic activity and the extracellular peptide was an important source of antifungal activity. Besides, a low rate of antibiotic resistance and non-hemolytic activity was detected in E. durans S2C. Strong antifungal activity of E. durans against two plant pathogenic fungi namely Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia solani was also recorded. Antifungal activity evaluation showed that R. solani colony was the most inhibited fungus followed by F. oxysporum. Gelatinase enzyme having antifungal activity was also purified from E. durans S2C isolate. This study concludes that the environmental-derived E. durans S2C strain can be selected for technological application to control pathogenic fungi and to protect the economic value of the crops.