Prodigiosin production from Serratia marcescens strains obtained from farm soil

Prodigiosin is a red color pigment produced by the bacterium Serratia marcescens. Prodigiosin is emerging as a valuable molecule because of its large applications. The pigment is anticancer, immunosuppressant, antifungal, algicidal and many more applications are still to be studied. It has already been proved that pigmented strain of Serratia marcescens is less virulent than non-pigmented strains. Moreover the strain we have obtained is from farm soil which indicates that prodigiosin production can be carried safely using this strain. In present study we employed an already characterized pigmented strain which was confirmed by morphological, biochemical and phylogenetic studies. A non-pigmented strain was used as negative control. The levels of prodigiosin are studied in peptone glycerol broth and nutrient broth. Influence of aeration is also studied which indicates that higher levels of prodigiosin are found in the media kept for aeration. We found that the prodigiosin production is increasing gradually after 48h and were maximum towards 72h thereafter the production was decreasing towards 92h in both media. Prodigiosin was nil after 24h also. Greater levels of prodigiosin were observed inn nutrient broth which is quite significant. Generally oils are required for prodigiosin production but the strain is producing prodigiosin in nutrient broth which is indicative of wild type prodigiosin producing strain.