Abstract

ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY OF SELECTED MICROALGAL MEMBERS OF CHLOROPHYCEAE

Thamilvanan D., Karthikeyan D., Muthukumaran M., and B. S. Balakumar*

ABSTRACT

Microalgae are prokaryotic or eukaryotic photosynthetic microorganisms that produce carbohydrates, as a result of photosynthesis. They grow rapidly and live in harsh conditions due to their unicellular or simple multicellular structure. Microalgae are present in all existing earth ecosystems, not only aquatic but also terrestrial. In the present investigation algal biomass in methanol extracts of chlorophyceae micro algae; Chlorella vulgaris, Desmococcus olivaceous and Chlorococcum humicola was screened for antimicrobial activity against two Gram‟s positive bacteria (Styphlococcus areus & Entococcus faecalis) and two Gram‟s negative bacteria (Enterobacter aerogens & Klebsiella pneumonia) by disc diffusion method. The result of the present study indicate that chlorococcum humicola exhibited more antibacterial activity than Desmosoccus olivaceous and Chlorella vulgaris.

Keywords: Antibacterial activity and microalgae.