Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 5(2): 49-52, 2013 ISSN: 2041-076X, e-ISSN: 2041-0778 © Maxwell Scientific Organization, 2012 Submitted: July 31, 2012 Accepted: September 17, 2012 Published: March 20, 2013 Corresponding Author: S. Sugesh, CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai-608502, Tamil Nadu, India, Tel.: (0) 04144- 243223,243070 49 Screening of Antibacterial Activities of Marine Gastropod Hemifusus Pugilinus S. Sugesh, P. Mayavu, P. Ezhilarasan, P. Sivashankar and N. Arivuselvan CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai-608502, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract: In the present investigation was carried out to screen the antibacterial activities of marine gastropod Hemifusus pugilinus. The whole body of the animal was extracted in three different solvents such as, ethanol, methanol and water. The antibacterial properties were studied using 10 human pathogenic microorganisms such as, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, K. pnuemoniae, Lactobacillus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, S. paratyphi, Staphylococcus aureus and Vibrio paraheamolyticus. The ethanolic extracts of H. pugilinus showed maximum antibacterial activities against E. coli (8 mm) and minimum activities against Vibrio paraheamolyticus (2 mm), Methanolic extracts showed highest activity in E. coli (6 mm) and lowest activity against S. paratyphi (1 mm) and the extract of water showed antibacterial activities against E. coli, K. oxytoca and S. paratyphi. The crude extracts were purified in silica gel column chromatography with 11 fractions. In that E:M, 16:4, 12:8, 10:10, which showed maximum zone of inhibition against E. coli (4 mm), K. oxytoca (4 mm), K. pneumoniae (3 mm), L. vulgaris (4 mm) and V. parahemolyticus (5 mm). 18:2, 8:12, 6:14, 4:12 and 2:18 with these fractions showed minimum activities against the all pathogenic microbial forms. Keywords: Antibacterial activities, gastropod, Hemifusus pugilinus, pathogens INTRODUCTION Marine organisms are continuously provide a rich source of bioactive metabolites such as antibiotics, enzymes, amino acids, food colorants etc., every year more than 18,000 new compounds are derived from marine organisms (Faulkner, 2001). The ocean offers a vast potential diversity of fauna and flora, it estimated over 5,00,000 species which are double than terrestrial environment (Kamboj, 1999). Among the marine phylum marine invertebrates (sponges, tunicates, gastropods, bivalves etc.) which have lack of physical defense, produce toxic substances to protect themselves from the predators and these toxic substances are the prime candidates in biomedical arena for the production of bioactive metabolites such as antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and antitumour compounds (Nakamura et al., 1988; Mitta et al., 2000; Rajaganapathy et al., 2000; Anand and Edward, 2001; Zasloff, 2002; Mayer and Gustafson, 2006). Molluscs are said to be pharmacologically significant outlet. There are more than thousand of bioactive compounds discovered in molluscs. They are peptide, depsipeptide, sterols, sesquiterpene, terpenes, polypropionate, nitrogenous compounds, macrolides, prostaglandins and fatty acid derivatives, sterols, miscellaneous compounds and alkaloids (Blunt et al., 2006). In the recent past, molluscs have been screened for antitumour, antileukemic, antibacterial and antiviral properties world over (Mayer and Hamann, 2005; Diane et al., 2009). Extraction of antibacterial and antifungal compounds from marine organisms has been in vogue since many years, perusal of literature revealed that a large number of works have been carried out in other groups organisms but only a few studies were made in molluscs (Chandren et al., 2009; Annamalai et al., 2007; Diane et al., 2009). Studies of antimicrobial mechanisms and compounds in mollusc may provide valuable information for new antibiotic discoveries and give new insights into bioactive compounds. The availability of molluscs is too high and their utilization is extremely low compared to other marine organisms. Hence the present study has been made to ascertain the antibacterial activity of marine gastropod H. pugilinus. MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of specimen and extraction: Live specimens of gastropod (Hemifusus pugilinus) were collected from Vellar estuary of parangipettai south east coast of India (Lat 11° 29 ‘N; 79°46’E) for period study. The experiments were conducted in CAS in marine biology lab during March 2008-Feb 2009. The collected animals were brought on to the laboratory and the shells were broken, tissue sample were washed with distilled water. Extraction was done by cold percolation method. The tissue and equal part of solvent were