As understanding the impacts of river impoundment will facilitate conservation initiatives in developing countries in tropical latitudes where development of large impoundments continues to threaten rich biological diversity, the present study was attempted to study the fresh water impoundment, Mayanur Dam, situated in the banks of the River Cauvery in Tamil Nadu. Alterations to species composition or community structure, such as those that follow river impoundment, may disrupt the ability of the ecosystem to provide goods and services. One of the primary goals in bioprospecting studies with microorganisms is to enhance the natural product discovery which can be used in pharmaceutical or other industry sectors. As exploration of potential bacteria is an important approach to discovering novel antibiotics to meet the current needs, the present study was attempted to study antimicrobial activity of selected actinomycetes species obtained from Mayanur fresh water system. All the species under study showed the presence of all enzymatic activities except Actinomyces and Micromonospora which did not record chitinase activity. Among the various actinomycetes species, Streptomyces recorded maximum enzymatic activity for all the enzymes except urease. The maximum urease activity was recorded by Actinopolyspora. Among the various species, Micromonospora recorded minimal enzymatic activities with regard to protease, urease, cellulose, and chitinase. The results clearly indicate that all the actinomycetes species recorded antimicrobial activity but at different levels. Among the various actinomycetes species, Streptomyces recorded the maximum zone of inhibition against all the bacteria except Staphylococcus epidermidis. in addition, Streptomyces was the most efficient actinomycetes species against all the bacteria analysed except for S. epidermis where Actinopolyspora recorded the maximum zone of inhibition. Further, the present study also suggested that Streptomyces and Actino
ENZYMATIC AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF ACTINOMYCETES SPECIES OBTAINED FROM MAYANUR DAM, TAMIL NADU, INDIA
