The cytotoxicity of culture extracts of indigenous Actinobacteria of Iran using Artemia urmiana

Actinobacteria are very important in the world in terms of the production of metabolites with various biological effects. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the toxicity of the fermented extract obtained from Actinobacteria isolated from some biological resources of Iran on Artemia urmiana. These isolates were deposited in University of Tehran Microorganisms Collection (UTMC).

Forty-eight -76°C actinobacterial isolates were revived using ISP2 agar culture medium. Two bacterial discs were inoculated in ISP2 broth medium as a pre-cultivation medium. After 48 hours, 10 ml of the liquid was inoculated into the fermentation culture medium and heated for 7 days in a shaker incubator with 180 rpm, temperature of 28°C and pH of 7.2 ± 0.2. The fermentation broth was extracted using ethyl acetate, the solvent was evaporated using a low-pressure rotary evaporator. The toxicity of fermentation broth extracts was assayed against    40-hour Artemia urmiana nauplii.

According to the toxicity classification, among the all 48 isolates, 64.58% were highly toxic, 22.91% were moderate toxic, and 12.5% were in the low toxicity compounds group.

The results showed that more than half of the tested extracts had very high lethality on Artemia urmiana in a short time. Comparing the LC50 and LT50 values of the extracts with  similar studies, it was found that these extracts have a significant biological activity and can be used as a rich source in the production of metabolites with proper biological effects.