Isolation, Molecular Identification and Antibacterial Potential of Marine Bacteria from Deep Atlantic Ocean of Morocco

Antibiotic resistance is an important concern for the public health authorities at global level. It is detrimental to human and environmental ecosystems, thus, there is a big need for natural bioactive compounds. In this work, we aimed to find out biomolecules derived from marine bacteria that may constitute an alternative to antibiotics.

We isolated and identified thirty one marine bacteria collected from deep ocean water in central coast of Safi city, Morocco. Then, we induced biomolecules production in six marine bacterial strains. The extracts were tested for their antibacterial activity against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria such as Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 33592 and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 19117. Furthermore, we partially analyzed the chemical composition of these biomolecules and evaluated their sensibility to different temperatures.

The six marine bacteria were able to produce molecules which inhibited the three pathogenic strains with high inhibition zones reaching 27 mm. These molecules were characterized by heat stability from 60 to 121C relying on each strain.

The produced molecules may offer a great potential to pharmaceutical industries as they may constitute an alternative to antibiotics that are becoming less effective due to the emergence of drugs resistance.