Comparison of antimicrobial activities of newly obtained low molecular weight scorpion chitosan and medium molecular weight commercial chitosan

Murat Kaya*, Meltem Asan-Ozusaglam, Sevil Erdogan

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

54 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study the antimicrobial activity of low molecular weight (3.22 kDa) chitosan, obtained for the first time from a species belonging to the Scorpiones, was screened against nine pathogenic microorganisms (seven bacteria and two yeasts) and compared with that of medium molecular weight commercial chitosan (MMWCC). It was observed that the antimicrobial activity of the low molecular weight scorpion chitosan (LMWSC) was specific to bacterial species in general rather than gram-negative or gram-positive bacterial groups. It was also determined that LMWSC had a stronger inhibitory effect than the MMWCC, particularly on the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes and the yeast Candida albicans, which are important pathogens for public health. In addition, it was recorded that the MMWCC had a greater inhibitory effect on Bacillus subtilis than LMWSC. According to the results obtained by the disc diffusion method, the antibacterial activity of both LMWSC and MMWCC against B. subtilis and Salmonella enteritidis was higher than the widely used antibiotic Gentamicin (CN, 10 μg/disc).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)678-684
Number of pages7
JournalJournal of Bioscience and Bioengineering
Volume121
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2016
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan.

Keywords

  • Antibacterial
  • Antifungal
  • Characterization
  • Chitosan
  • Molecular weight
  • Scorpion

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