Aim: To study the effect of Nocardia vaccinii IMV B-7405 surfactants on some bacteria (including pathogens of genera Proteus, Staphylococcus, Enterobacter), yeast of Candida species and fungi (Aspergillus niger R-3, Fusarium culmorum T-7).
Methods: The antimi- crobial properties of surfactant were determined in suspension culture by Koch method and also by index of the minimum inhibitory concentration. Surfactants were extracted from supernatant of cultural liquid by mixture of chloroform and methanol (2:1).
Results: It is shown that the antimicrobial properties of N. vaccinii IMV B-7405 surfactant depended on the degree of purification (supernatant, solution of surfactant), concentration and exposure. Survival of Escherichia coli IEM-1 and Bacillus subtilis BT-2 (both vegetative cells and spores) after treatment for 1-2 hours with surfactants solution and the supernatant (the surfactant concentration 21 µg/ml) was 3-28%. Minimum inhibitory concentrations of N. vaccinii IMV B-7405 surfactants on studied bacteria, yeast and micromycetes were 11.5-85.0; 11.5-22.5 and 165.0-325.0 µ/ml respectively.
Conclusions: Minimum inhibitory concentrations of N. vaccinii IMV B-7405 surfactants are comparable to those of the known microbial surfactants. The possibility of using the supernatant of culture liquid as an effective antimicrobial agent noticeably simplifies and reduces the cost of the technology of its obtaining.