Antimicrobial activities of the lichen <i style="">Roccella belangeriana </i>(Awasthi) from mangroves of Gulf of Mannar

449-453The present study, attempted to test antimicrobial activity of the mangrove lichen Roccella belangeriana collected from the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve area. The lichen was extracted in different solvents: acetone, methanol, diethylether, ethanol, ethyl acetate, petroleum ether, chloroform and water and tested against 14 bacterial strains and 3 fungal strains by well diffusion assay. Regarding antibacterial activity the maximum zone of inhibition was recorded in methanol extracts against Vibrio cholerae and the minimum zone of inhibition was in ethyl acetate extract against Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococci sp., Salmonella sp. and Shewanella sp. Regarding the antifungal activity, the maximum zone of inhibition was recorded against Aspergillus niger, and the minimum was noted against Rhizophus sp