Antimicrobial Activity of Marine Microalgae against Bacteria Causing Skin Diseases of Pet Animals

Abstract

Microalgae play a significant role in the development of new products for medical and pharmaceutical research due to their ability to generate different biologically active metabolites. Microalgae are target organisms in the search for new antibiotic molecules to deal with antibiotic resistance. My results showed antimicrobial activity of three algal species Tetraselmis sp., Nannochloropsis sp. and Chlorella sp. against three pathogenic bacteria from pet dogs by disk diffusion method. Chlorella sp. showed maximum inhibition zone (13.88 mm) against Escherichia coli, whereas, Nannochloropsis sp. exhibited maximum (9.16 mm) against Streptococcus sp. and Tetraselmis sp. against Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Escherichia coli. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of Chlorella was 30 mg/ml against Escherichi coli and Staphylococcus saprophyticus and The MIC value of Tetraselmis was 20mg/ml against Escherichia coli and 40 mg/ml against Staphylococcus saprophyticus. The current study also reported that Chlorella sp. was effective at a constant concentration against both the Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus saprophyticus. However, lesser amount of Tetraselmis sp. was required to suppress growth of Gram-negative Escherichia coli compared to Gram-positive Staphylococcus saprophyticus that need exactly double. It can be suggested that Chlorella sp., Tetraselmis sp. and Nannochloropsis sp. could be used as substitutes of antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria of pet animal as they possess bioactive compounds that have antimicrobial properties.