African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (24), pp. 2746-2751, 17 December 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

Antibacterial activities of some marine algae from the Aegean Sea (Turkey)

E. Taskin*, M. Ozturk, E. Taskin and O. Kurt

Department of Biology, Faculty of Arts & Sciences, Celal Bayar University, Muradiye-Manisa 45140, Turkey.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: evrim.taskin@bayar.edu.tr. Tel: +90-236-2412151. Fax: +90-236-2412158.

Accepted 7 November, 2007

In this study, methanolic extracts of six marine algae belong to Rhodophyceae (Corallina officinalis), Phaeophyceae (Cystoseira barbata, Dictyota dichotoma, Halopteris filicina, Cladostephus spongiosus f. verticillatus) and Chlorophyceae (Ulva rigida) from the North Aegean Sea (Turkey) were studied for their antibacterial activity against pathogenic microbes, 3 gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus and Enterococcus faecalis) and 3 Gram negative (Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes and E. coli O157:H7) in vitro.  Extracts of all the test marine algae except C. officinalis showed inhibition against S. aureus. On the other hand, highest inhibiton activity among all the extratcs was shown to E . aerogenes by C . officinalis. The extract from C. barbata has shown broader activity spectrum against all the test organisms.

Key words: Aegean sea, antibacterial activity, Corallina officinalis, marine algae.