Detection of antibiotic-producing Actinobacteria in the sediment and water of Ma'in thermal springs (Jordan)

Emad I Hussein; Jacob H Jacob; Muhamad Ali K Shakhatreh; Mutaz A Abd Al-Razaq; Abdul-Salam F Juhmani; Christopher T Cornelison

doi:10.18683/germs.2018.1146

Detection of antibiotic-producing Actinobacteria in the sediment and water of Ma'in thermal springs (Jordan)

Germs. 2018 Dec 3;8(4):191-198. doi: 10.18683/germs.2018.1146. eCollection 2018 Dec.

Authors

Emad I Hussein¹, Jacob H Jacob², Muhamad Ali K Shakhatreh³, Mutaz A Abd Al-Razaq⁴, Abdul-Salam F Juhmani⁵, Christopher T Cornelison⁶

Affiliations

¹ PhD, Department of Biological Sciences, Yarmouk University, P.O Box 566, Irbid 21163, Irbid, Jordan, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, College of Health and Applied Sciences, A'Sharqiyah University, Post Box 42, Ibra 400, Ibra, Sultanate of Oman.
² PhD, Department of Biological Sciences, Al al-Bayt University, P.O.Box 130040, Mafraq 25113, Jordan.
³ PhD, Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Irbid, Jordan.
⁴ PhD, Department of Biological Sciences, Yarmouk University, P.O Box 566 Zip Code 21163, Irbid, Jordan.
⁵ MSc, Department of Environmental Science, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Via Torino 155, 30170 Venice, Mestre, Italy.
⁶ PhD, Division of Research and Advanced Studies, Kennesaw State University, 365 Cobb Avenue, MD 0111, Kennesaw, GA 30144, USA.

Abstract

Introduction: Detection of new Actinobacteria is significant to discover new antibiotics because development of new antibiotics is connected to the characterization of novel bacterial taxa. This study has focused on the identification and isolation of antibiotic-producing Actinobacteria from the sediment and the water of Ma'in thermal springs (48-59°C) situated in the center area of Jordan.

Methods: Samples of sediment and water were transferred to glucose yeast malt agar medium and Actinobacteria were cultivated, isolated and identified according to scanning electron microscopy and 16S rRNA gene analysis. Antibacterial activities of the isolates were then tested against different test bacteria by agar well diffusion method.

Results: Three different species of Actinobacteria were isolated (M1-1, M2-2, M3-2) from sediment samples. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, isolate M1-1 was found to have only 90% identity percentage with Nocardiopsis sp., however, isolates M2-2 and M3-2 were found to be closely related Streptomyces sp. (97%) and Nocardioides luteus (99%), respectively. The antibacterial activity showed that strain M1-1 is active against P. aeruginosa ATCC 2785 (inhibition zone, 9 mm). Strain M2-2 was found to be active against S. aureus ATCC 29213 (12 mm), B. cereus ATCC 11778 (11 mm), and E. coli ATCC 25922 (9 mm). In respect to strain M3-2, it was found to be active against S. aureus ATCC 29213 (14 mm) and B. cereus ATCC 11778 (9 mm). There were no actinobacterial isolates obtained from water samples despite their significant diversity revealed by our previous metagenomic analysis, which showed the presence of 13 different species dominated by Arthrobacter (an Actinobacterium belonging to family Actinomycetales).

Conclusion: There were 17 different Actinobacteria that could be detected in Ma'in thermal springs (13 unculturable species and 3 culturable species). The culturable Actinobacteria were found to have some antimicrobial activity. Further chemical analysis of the bioactive compounds is recommended.

Keywords: Actinobacteria; Jordan; Ma’in thermal springs; antibiotics.