| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Microorganisms have provided a wealth of metabolites with interesting activities such as antimicrobial, antiviral and anticancer. In this study, a total of 119 aquatic microbial isolates from 30 samples (taken from water bodies in Ghana) were screened by the agar-well diffusion method for ability to produce antibacterial-metabolites.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Antibacterial activity was exhibited by 27 of the isolates (14 bacteria, 9 actinomycetes and 4 fungi) against at least one of the indicator microorganisms: <it>Enterococcus faecalis</it> (ATCC 29212)<it>, Bacillus thuringiensis</it> (ATCC 13838)<it>, Pseudomonas aeruginosa</it> (ATCC 27853)<it>, Staphylococcus aureus</it> (ATCC 25923)<it>, Proteus vulgaris</it> (NCTC 4635) <it>and Bacillus Subtilis</it> (NCTC 10073). A sea isolate MAI2 (identified as a strain of <it>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</it>) exhibited the highest antibacterial activity (lowest zone of inhibition = 22 mm). The metabolites of MAI2 extracted with chloroform were stable to heat and gave minimum inhibitory concentrations ranging between 250 and 2000 μg/ml. Bioautography of the extract revealed seven active components.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study has therefore uncovered the potential of water bodies in the West African sub-region as reservoirs of potent bioactive metabolite producing microorganisms.</p>
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