Purification and characterization of a novel lipopeptide from Streptomyces amritsarensis sp. nov. active against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Nowadays antimicrobial lipopeptides are being widely exploited for developing potential therapeutic agents for treating bacterial infections. In the present study, we have purified and characterized an antimicrobial lipopeptide produced by Streptomyces amritsarensis sp. nov. (= MTCC 11845(T) = JCM 19660(T)). The lipopeptide was purified using silica gel chromatography, size exclusion chromatography and reverse phase- HPLC. The MS/MS analysis of the lipopeptide revealed that it has amino acid sequence as Ala-Thr-Gly-Ser-His-Gln and a long chain fatty acid tail with six times repeated the molecular mass of 161 Da which is corresponding to -C(12)H(19). Based on the molecular mass (878.5 Da) and amino acid composition, the lipopeptide was identified as a novel lipopeptide. The MIC values of purified lipopeptide against Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 619), Staphylococcus epidermidis (MTCC 435), Mycobacterium smegmatis (MTCC 6) and clinical strain, Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) were found to be 10, 15, 25 and 45 μg/ml, respectively. It was completely stable at 70°C for 1 h and retained 81.8% activity after autoclaving (121°C for 15 min). It did not show any change in its activity profile between pH 5.0 - 9.0 and is stable to trypsin, proteinase K and lipase enzymes. It was found to be non-mutagenic against Salmonella typhimurium (TA98) and did not show cytotoxicity when checked against Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line. In addition to antibacterial activity it also exhibits biosurfactant activity.