BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF ACTINOMYCETES ISOLATED FROM ARID SOILS

Abstract

Productions of microbial nanoparticles and biosurfactant have received great attention because of their broad applications in the fields of medicine, agriculture, biotechnology and waste management. Having a great potential in this applied field, the genus Streptomyces was employed for production of nanoparticles and biosurfactant, to be applied in foliar fertilization and bioremediation of petrol, respectively, which may reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and surfactant which have deleterious effect on the environment. This study aimed to maximized nanoparticles synthesis and biosurfactant production by the selected local isolates of Streptomyces and using these substances as fertilizers and in bioremediation of petrol. To achieve this goal, the following steps were performed: 1. Isolation of different local actinomycetes from various arid soils. 2. Purification and maintenance of the isolated actinomycetes. 3. Studying of some morphological and biochemical properties of the purified actinomycetes. 4. Screening of the purified streptomycete isolates according to their biological activities (nanoparticles and biosurfactant production). 5. Identification of the most active actinomycete isolate(s). 6. Studying the environmental and nutritional conditions affecting nanoparticles and biosurfactant production by the most active strains. 7. Applications of the produced nanoparticles and biosurfactant in fertilization and degradation of waste in soil.