788| © www.globalsciencepg.org Biolife | 2015 | Vol 3 | Issue 4 B I O L I F E R E S E A R C H A R T I C L E Antibacterial activity of fish mucus from Clarias batrachus (Linn.) against selected microbes R. N. Patil 1 *, J. S. Kadam 1 , J. R. Ingole 2 , T. V. Sathe 3 , A. D. Jadhav 3 1 P. G. Dept. of Zoology, Sadguru Gadage Maharaj College, Karad-415 124 2 Dept. of Microbiology, Sadguru Gadage Maharaj College, karad-415 124 3 Dept. of Zoology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur- 416 006 India *Email: rnpatilsgm@gmail.com ABSTRACT Fish is one of the diverse group of animals, that are highly specialized for their aquatic existence. Fishes are in relation with aquatic habitat, which contains very high concentrations of bacteria and viruses. The immune system is composed of numerous organs and cells that act together in a dynamic network in the defense against infection, disease and foreign substances. Fish mucus were tested by using disc diffusion technique against seven pathogenic bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aerugenosa, Proteus vulgaris, Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella paratyphi B, Bacillus subtilis . The activity was measured in terms of zone of inhibition in mm. The mucus from Clarias batrachus showed broad spectrum of antibacterial activity. KEY WORDS: Antibacterial activity, Fish mucus, Clarias batrachus. INTRODUCTION Inspite of modern improvements in chemotherapeutic techniques, infectious diseases are still an increasingly important public health issue (World Resources Institute, 2000). Now- a days the development of resistance by a pathogen to many of the commonly used antibiotics provides an impetus for further attempts to search for new antimicrobial agents to combat infections and overcome problems of resistance and side effects of the currently available antimicrobial agents. Action must be taken to reduce this problem such as, controlling the use of antibiotics, carrying out research to investigate drugs from natural sources and also drugs that can either inhibit the growth of pathogen or kill them and have no or least toxicity to the host cell are considered conditions for developing new antimicrobial drugs. The mucus protects the skin from pathogens and suspended particles and its alarm substance mucin has potential of antimicrobial and noxious properties (Knouft et al., 2003). Mucus plays an important role in the prevention of colonization of parasites, bacteria and fungi (Yan et al., 2000; Estari Mamidala, 2013). The functional property of the mucus depends on its capacity to form gel on the epithelial surface (Bragadeeswam et al., 2011). This mucus is secreted by the epidermal goblet cells, composed mainly of water and gel forming macromolecules such as mucins and other glycoproteins (Martinez et al., 2006) In addition fish mucus also contains a variety of biologically active substances such as lysozyme, lectins, flavoenzymes and immunoglobulin. It was reported that, epithelial tissues produce antimicrobial molecules which serve as the first line of a host’s defense against microbial invasion in a variety of vertebrates (Villarroel et al., 2007; Ashwin et al, 2015). How to cite this article: R. N. Patil, J. S. Kadam, J. R. Ingole, T. V. Sathe, A. D. Jadhav. (2015). Antibacterial activity of fish mucus from Clarias batrachus (Linn.) Against selected microbes. Biolife, 3(4), pp 788-791. doi:10.17812/blj.2015.345 Published online: 10 October 2015 AN INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY & LIFE SCIENCES 3(4):788-791 ISSN (online): 2320-4257 www.biolifejournal.com