Abstract:
Bacteria capable of killing other microorganisms were screened and isolated from fermented food, vegetables and fruits. Among these, F2.2 which was later identified as member of the genus Bacillus showed a wide range of microbial killing activities. Optimization for toxin production was carried out in the shake flask level. It was found that the organisms produced toxin in high amount upon cultivating in YEPD medium containing glucose as sole source of carbon with peptone as nitrogen source, yeast extract as trace mineral and initial pH of 5.0. Cultivation was done in a 250 ml. flasks at 30 °c, 200 rpm. with maximum yield after 3 days of cultivation. The optimum conditions for killing activity of toxin toward Saccharomyces cerevisiae were: 14hr. incubation at 25 °c and pH of 6.0. Toxin was partially purified by consecutive chromatography on silica gel, DEAE-Sephadex A-50 and Sephadex G-75 columns, respectively. The last fraction obtained was subjected to reverse phase HPLC equipped with LichroCART 250-4(100 RP-18) column, analytical HPLC chromatogram showed profile of less peaks in [comparison] to sample obtained from HCl precipitation, indicated a higher degree of purity.