Isolation and phenotypic characterization of actinomycetes from Rabat neighborhood soil and their potential to produce bioactive compounds

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the isolation of actinomycetes strains from unexplored Rabat neighbourhood soil followed by phenotypic diversity highlight to access their potential as novel bioactive compounds producers. Twenty nine actinomycetes strains were isolated from southeast of Rabat region. Morphological and cultural characterization, pigment production and antibacterial assay were carried out. All isolates (100%) were able to produce at least one non-diffusible pigment depending on the culture media. Twenty five (86.20%) isolates produce diffusible pigments, 6 (20.69%) produce melanoid diffusible pigments and 5 (17.24%) exhibited antibacterial activities. These results indicate an important potential of the actinomycetes isolated to produce polymorphic secondary metabolites. Key words: Isolation, actinomycetes, diversity, pigment, bioactive compounds, antibacterial.