PJB-2008-95
TECHNOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INDIGENOUS ENTEROCOCCAL POPULATION FOR PROBIOTIC POTENTIAL
MUSHTAQ HUSSAIN1, MUHAMMAD TANWEER KHAN1, ABDUL WAJID2 AND SHEIKH AJAZ RASOOL1*
Abstract
Probiotics are the live microbial supplements of single or mixed cultures that produce health beneficial effects when ingested. Diversity in metabolic and/or physiological attributes has made Enterococcus a probiotic organism and quite conversely a second or third most common agent of nosocomial infections. The present study is a technological screening for the selection of potential probiotic isolates from the indigenous enterococcal population. Over 500 enterococcal strains have been isolated from sewage samples and baby fecal material, respectively collected from all 18 towns and well recognized hospitals of Karachi. Production of several enzymes and bioactive peptides/proteins has been screened from isolated microbes for instance alkaline phosphatase, bacteriocins, β-galactosidase, urease, protease, cytolysin and lipase etc. Among the total, 95.7%, 78.2% and 3.4% of enterococci have been found as producers of β-galactosidase, bacteriocin and hemolysin (cytolysin) respectively. Other metabolites have been less frequently produced by the isolates. The high prevalence of β-galactosidase suggests the constitutive nature of gene while fluctuation in different metabolite production indicates their dispensability and concomitantly delineates the significance of selection for probiotic organisms. Moreover, far less frequency of hemolytic enterocococci suggest low prevalence of pathogenicity island in the indigenous enterococcal population. Conclusively, the findings facilitate not only the down right selection of occult probiotic enterococci but also provide baseline information for composition of potentially probiotic and pathogenic enterococci in the local microbial population.
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