IDENTIFICATION OF PUTATIVE DRUG TARGETS IN MASTITIS CAUSING STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS BY IN SILICO APPROACH

Objective: In the present study an attempt has been made by the use of a computational approach to investigate putative drug targets in Staphylococcus aureus.Methods: In silico comparative analysis of the metabolic pathways between the pathogen and the Bos taurus was carried out. Further detection of bacterial genes that are non homologous to host, but are essential for the survival of the pathogen represents a promising means of identifying novel drug targets. Metabolic pathways were obtained from the metabolic pathway database Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and were compared to identify unique pathways present only in the pathogen and absent in the host.Results: We have identified total 1930 proteins, which are non homologous to Bos taurus protein sequences and among them 374 enzymes are found to be essential for survival of the S. aureus according to the database of essential genes (DEG) database. Further, 10 proteins were predicted as cytoplasmic and cell wall associated proteins, which could serve as potential drug target candidates.Conclusion: The identified potential drug targets form a platform for further investigation in discovery of novel therapeutic agents against S. aureus.Â

Isolation and partial purification of erythromycin from alkaliphilic Streptomyces werraensis isolated from Rajkot, India

AbstractAn alkaliphilic actinomycete, BCI-1, was isolated from soil samples collected from Saurashtra University campus, Gujarat. Isolated strain was identified as Streptomyces werraensis based on morphological, biochemical and phylogenetic analysis. Maximum antibiotic production was obtained in media containing sucrose 2%, Yeast extract 1.5%, and NaCl 2.5% at pH 9.0 for 7 days at 30 °C. Maximum inhibitory compound was produced at pH 9 and at 30 °C. FTIR revealed imine, amine, alkane (CC) of aromatic ring and p-di substituted benzene, whereas HPLC analysis of partially purified compound and library search confirmed 95% peaks matches with erythromycin. Chloroform extracted isolated compound showed MIC values 1 μg/ml against Bacillus subtilis, ≤0.5 μg/ml against Staphylococcus aureus, ≤0.5 μg/ml against Escherichia coli and 2.0 μg/ml against Serretia GSD2 sp., which is more effective in comparison to ehtylacetate and methanol extracted compounds. The study holds significance as only few alkaliphilic actinomycetes have been explored for their antimicrobial potential