Screening of antimicrobial activities in red, green and brown macroalgae from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) Authors Antonio González del Val Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Gonzalo Platas Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Angela Basilio Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Angeles Cabello Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Julian Gorrochategui Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Inmaculada Suay Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Francisca Vicente Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Eduardo Portillo Center for Applied Biological Research, Canary Islands Technological Institute, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Miguel Jiménez del Río Center for Applied Biological Research, Canary Islands Technological Institute, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain Guillermo García Reina Institute for Applied Algology, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria University, Telde, Las Palmas, Spain Fernando Peláez Center for Basic Research— Natural Products Drug Discovery, Merck Research Laboratories, Merck Sharp & Dohme de España, Madrid, Spain Keywords: antibacterial compounds, antifungal compounds, bioactivity, antimicrobial screening, seaweeds Abstract Extracts from 44 species of seaweed from Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain) were screened for the production of antibacterial and antifungal compounds against a panel of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, mycobacteria, yeasts and fungi. A total of 28 species displayed antibacterial activity, of which six also showed antifungal activity. Asparagopsis taxiformis and Cymopolia barbata were the species with the strongest activities against the broadest spectrum of target microorganisms. All the species with antibacterial activity were active against Gram-positive bacteria, whereas only two species, A. taxiformis and Osmundea hybrida, were active against mycobacteria. The production of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial activities by the macroalgae was also studied under different conditions, although no common trend for bioactivity was observed. Downloads PDF Published 2010-03-12 Issue Vol. 4 No. 1 (2001) Section Research Articles License Submission of a manuscript to International Microbiology implies: that the work described has not been published before, including publication in the World Wide Web (except in the form of an Abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, or thesis); that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; that all the coauthors have agreed to its publication. The corresponding author signs for and accepts responsability for releasing this material and will act on behalf of any and all coauthors regarding the editorial review and publication process.If an article is accepted for publication in International Microbiology, the authors (or other copyright holder) must transfer to the journal the right–not exclusive–to reproduce and distribute the article including reprints, translations, photographic reproductions, microform, electronic form (offline, online) or any other reproductions of similar nature. Nevertheless, all article in International Microbiology will be available on the Internet to any reader at no cost. The journal allows users to freely download, copy, print, distribute, search, and link to the full text of any article, provided the authorship and source of the published article is cited. The copyright owner's consent does not include copying for new works, or resale. In these cases, the specific written permission of International Microbiology must first be obtained.Authors are requested to create a link to the published article on the journal's website. The link must be accompanied by the following text: "The original publication is available on LINK at <http://www.im.microbios.org>. Please use the appropiate URL for the article in LINK. Articles disseminated via LINK are indexed, abstracted, and referenced by many abstracting and information services, bibliographic networks, subscription agencies, library networks, and consortia.
