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Appl Biochem Biotechnol (2014) 174:461470
DOI 10.1007/s12010-014-1080-2
Hema Ramachandran & Mohd Adnan Iqbal & A.-A. Amirul
Received: 12 February 2014 /Accepted: 22 July 2014 /
Published online: 7 August 2014# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract Microbial pigments are gaining intensive attention due to increasing awareness of the toxicity of synthetic colours. In this study, a novel polymer-producing bacterium designated as Cupriavidus sp. USMAHM13 was also found to produce yellow pigment when cultivated in nutrient broth. Various parameters such as temperature, pH and ratio of culture volume to flask volume were found to influence the yellow pigment production. UV-Visible, Fourier transform infrared and 13C-nuclear magnetic resonance analyses revealed that the crude yellow pigment might probably represent new bioactive compound in the carotenoid family. The crude yellow pigment also exhibited a wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity against Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria with their inhibition zones and minimal inhibitory concentrations ranged from 25 to 38 mm and from 0.63 to 2.5 mg/ml, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the identification and characterization of yellow pigment produced by bacterium belonging to the genus Cupriavidus.
Keywords Bioactive compound . Carotenoids . Cupriavidus sp. . Microbial pigment . Natural pigment . Antimicrobial activity
Introduction
Microbial pigments are referred to the colour produced by the microorganisms. They are in increasing demand although variety of the pigments from fruits and vegetables is available in
H. Ramachandran : A.<A. Amirul
School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia
H. Ramachandran
Quest International University Perak, 30250 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
M. A. Iqbal
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia
A.<A. Amirul
Centre for Chemical Biology, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia
A.<A. Amirul (*)
Malaysian Institute of Pharmaceuticals and Nutraceuticals, MOSTI, 11700 Gelugor, Penang, Malaysia e-mail: [email protected]
Identification and Characterization of the Yellow Pigment Synthesized by Cupriavidus sp. USMAHM13
462 Appl Biochem Biotechnol (2014) 174:461470
abundance because their production is not dependent on the seasons and geographical conditions. The microbial pigments are also considered natural and safe to use in various industrial applications. Controllable and predictable yield of pigment can also be attained by using pigment-producing microorganism. Microbial pigments also have more unique and attractive properties such as...