Molecular evaluation of antistaphylococcal secondary metabolites of bacterial isolates from hospital wastewater environment

Abstract

Objective: Antibiotics revolutionized medicine in the 20th century, and have together with vaccination led to the near eradication of diseases such as tuberculosis in the developed world. Their effectiveness and easy access led to overuse, especially in livestock raising, prompting bacteria to develop resistance. The lantibiotics form a particular group among the antimicrobial peptides and are characterized by unique structural features. They are produced by a group of bacteria against some gram-positive bacteria. The present study was designed to screen for the lantibiotic producing organisms from the hospital samples. Methods: The bacterial isolates were identified based on Bergey’s manual of bacteriology and screened for the epidermin gene by polymerase chain reaction amplification. Results: Of the 21 isolates screened, only 10 of them showed positive amplification for the epigene. Based on the biochemical characteristics, the isolates obtained were identified and labeled. Conclusion: Further study on the purification of the compound need to be done. Some bacterial samples may not have the epidermin gene which does not show amplification, this confers that the epidermin gene is absent in certain organisms.