The outcome of our present study is that marine salterns
harbour both halophilic and halotolerant actinomycete community.
The major anti-bacterial metabolites producing genera are Nocardiopsis,
Micromonospora, Kocuria and Streptomyces. Interestingly,
sea water salinity (35 psu) was the optimum salt requirement for
halotolerant and halophilic actinomycetes isolates for growth and
antibiotic production suggesting their marine origin and/or their
adaptability. The anti-bacterial property are either very specific or
multiple, suggesting that these compounds have diverse chemical
structures and activities, an adaptive mechanism for survival in the
saltern. Further detailed studies on these metabolites have to be
carried out for biotechnological applications.