Isolation of biologically active Actinomycetes from untouched soils: a case study from Karaj district, Iran

Actinomycetes are a source of a broad variety of secondary metabolites with diverse biological activities, such as antifungi, antibiotics and antitumorals; many of which have been developed for clinical use. In this study, 34 actinomycetes from untouched soils were isolated from Alborz Province-Iran. Evaluation ofantifungal and anti bacterial activities of these isolates, demonstrated the capability of the isolates to inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria using agar well diffusion method. Moreover, the ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts of an isolate were also tested against Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and their inhibited zones were measured. 53% of isolates were active against at least one of the seven tested pathogens and 32% of actinomycetes were active against tested pathogenic fungi. Some of the actinomycetal isolates had shown strong antifungal and antibacterial activity which promises a good source of novel antimicrobial agents. As a case, isolate act-3 was selected for its high antimicrobial activity against MRSA. These results suggested that actinomycetes from Alborz Province have a good potential for the production of biologically active compounds.