IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences (IOSR-JPBS) e-ISSN: 2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 9, Issue 3 Ver. I (May -Jun. 2014), PP 49-60 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 49 | Page Isolation, screening and characterization of Streptomyces espinosus from rhizospheric soil for Genistein production 1 Umesh Luthra*, 2 Harish Kumar, 3 Nishtha K. Singh, 4 Amitabh Chaturvedi, 5 Vandana Gupte, 6 Sneha Khadpekar, 7 Brajesh Kumar Sharma, 8 Laki Magar and 9 R.R. Patil 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 Ipca Laboratories Ltd., Biotech R&D, Kandivali, Mumbai- 400067, Maharashtra, India Corresponding Author: umeshluthra@gmail.com Abstract: Genistein is a phytoestrogen and belongs to the category of isoflavones. Most of the isoflavones in plants are present in a glycosylated form. The unglycosylated aglycones can be obtained through various means such as treatment with the enzyme β-glucosidase, acid treatment of soybeans followed by solvent extraction, or by chemical synthesis. Acid treatment is a harsh method as concentrated inorganic acids are used. Both enzyme treatment and chemical synthesis are costly. Chemically synthesized genistein or genistein extracted from soyabean currently can cost upto $5,000 a gram. A more economical process consisting of fermentation for in situ production of β-glucosidase to isolate genistein. They are naturally occurring chemical constituents that may interact with estrogen receptors to produce weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effects. Because of potential clinical use of genistein as chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agent it is highly important to produce this isoflavone. The present invention provides an alternate process for the large scale production of genistein by Streptomyces espinosus. Fifty three filamentous bacterial isolates were isolated from total of ten soil sample collected from different sites of Mumbai out of which one colony was found to produce Genistein which could be used for further studies and it was termed as Z. On the basis of morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular characterization the isolated strain Z was confirmed as Streptomyces espinosus and the metabolite produced by Streptomyces espinosus was characterized by HPLC, Mass, NMR and IR spectroscopy and confirmed as genistein. Abbreviation: Streptomyces espinosus, Genistein, NMR, HPLC I. Introduction Genistein was first isolated in 1899. It is one of the several known isoflavones. The main sources of Genistein are soybeans. It acts as a phytoestrogen, antioxidant & anticancer agent. The Genistein which we have isolated is produced by Steptomyces espinoses, which has not been reported so far. Genistein is a phytoestrogen (estrogen-like chemical compound present in plants) that is derived from certain plant precursors by human metabolism. They are naturally occurring chemical constituents that may interact with estrogen receptors to produce weak estrogenic or anti-estrogenic effects. They are composed of a wide group of non-steroidal compounds similar in structure and function to human estrogens (Leclerq G. and Heuson J.C., 1979). A conspicuous feature of the chemical structure of phytoestrogens is the presence of a phenolic ring that, with few exceptions, is a prerequisite for binding to the estrogen receptor. For this reason, phytoestrogens can act as weak estrogen agonists, partial agonists, or as antagonists to endogenous estrogens (such as estradiol) and xenoestrogens (including phytoestrogens) with estrogen receptors in both animals and humans. Therefore, working as estrogen, genistein mimics phytoestrogens. It may either have same effects as estrogen or block estrogen’s effects. There are three major classes of plant chemical compounds that have estrogen -like actions in the body. They are lignans (enterolactone, enterodiol), isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, biochanin A), and coumestans. The two major chemical classes of phytoestrogens found in people’s diets are lignans (enterodiol and enterolactone) and isoflavones (daidzein, genistein, and glycitein). Genistein is an isoflavone. Isoflavone are a class of flavonoids, natural products typically isolated in glycosylated form from plants. The aglycone is the biologically active form that has the most medicinal and commercial interest. The glycosylated form of genistein is known as genistin. The preparation of genestein must include a step in which the core isoflavone structure (genistein) is separated from the glucose moiety. Genistin, which is found in soyabean, is converted to the biologically active form, genistein, through the action of a beta- glucosidase enzyme. Genistein is reported to be an inhibitor of eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase (topo) I and II. Genistein is used as a chemopreventive agent in animal studies, is required for clinical trials as a dietary supplement; and likely has application as a chemotherapeutic agent when coupled to anti-tumour specific antibodies. Because of potential clinical use of genistein as chemopreventive and/or chemotherapeutic agent it is