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First records of sponge-associated Actinomycetes from two coastal sponges from Mauritius


Sandeep Shivram Beepat
Chandani Appadoo
Daniel Edgard Pierre Marie
Shamimtaz Bibi Sadally
Jose Pavao Mendes Paula
Kannan Sivakumar
Rashmi Ragothama Rao
Maryam Salah

Abstract

Actinobacteria commonly known as actinomycetes are often constituents of the sponge-associated bacterial communities and are well known producers of bioactive compounds.  In the present study, 7 actinomycete species representing 3 genera were successfully isolated from the sponge Spheciospongia vagabunda (Ridley, 1884) and Neopetrosia exigua (Kirkpatrick, 1900) from Mauritius.  The sponge N. exigua hosted a higher actinomycete diversity resulting in 71% of the total number of actinomycete strains recorded.  Streptomyces sp. and Micrococcus sp. were the most common actinomycete genera, both representing 43% of the total actinomycetes isolated from both host sponges.  Actinomycete Isolation Agar was the most effective medium for the selection of actinobacteria, yielding in 57% of the total actinobacterial strains isolated.  This study is the first to report on sponge-associated actinomycete communities from Mauritius and paves the way for future sponge-associated actinobacterial research in the Mascarene region.


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eISSN: 2683-6416
print ISSN: 0856-860X