ABSTRACT
The present study has been carried out to find out the antimicrobial
activities of the crude and partially purified ink extract of cephalopods
Loligo duvauceli (squid) and Sepia pharaonis (cuttlefish).
Antimicrobial activity of the ink was tested against eight bacterial
strains and one fungal strain by well diffusion method. At 100µl
concentration crude ink of L.duvauceli showed activity with the
inhibition zone between 17 to 28mm and at 20µl concentration the
extract showed a significant activity against Vibrio fischeri. No activity
was recorded against other bacterial strains. The crude ink of
S.pharaonis at 100µl concentration showed activity with the inhibition
zone ranging from 6mm to 20mm. At 20µl concentration it showed
activity only against Klebsiella pneumonia and Aeromonoas
hydrophila. The crude ink of L.duvauceli and S.pharaonis was partially purified and
fractionated by ammonium sulphate precipitation and the fractionated proteins were tested for
antimicrobial activity. Of the six fractions (L.duvauceli) only two fractions (30% and 40%)
of partially purified ink exhibited activity. Among the two, 30% fractionated ink exhibited
significant activity against K.pnumoniae, A.hydrophila and E.coli. Antimicrobial activity of
partially purified fractionated ink of S.pharaonis exhibited inhibitory zone varied from 14mm
to15mm. Among the different fractions, 80% fractionated ink showed maximum activity
against bacterial and fungal strains