Antimicrobial compounds with therapeutic potential from hemifusus pugilinus against human and fish pathogens

The antimicrobial activities of the marine gastropod, Hemifusus pugilinus against seven human and five fish pathogenic bacterial strains were assessed. Ethanol extract of Hemifusus pugilinus was found active against pathogens and the zone of inhibition ranged from 2 to 14 mm. Maximum zone of inhibition was 14 mm by ethanol extract against the pathogen P.vulgaris and minimum zone of 2 mm was observed by acetone and butanol extract against S.paratyphi and Shigella sp. In the case of fish pathogen a maximum zone (7mm) was observed with acetone extract against V.harveyi, followed by butanol extract against V.vulnificus (6mm), minimum zone of (2mm) was observed in V.alginolyticus by ethanol extract.The proximate composition of Hemifusus pugilinus showed the percentage of protein was high 20.42%, followed by the carbohydrate 9.50% and lipid 1.24 %. In Thin layer chromatography (TLC) pink color spots were clearly seen indicating the presence of aminoacids.Conclusively, the factors analyzed prove that this gastropod play an important role in chemical defensive mechanism against pathogens causing diseases in human and fishes. This study paves a way for further pharmaceutical research against pathogenic bacterial strains producing valuable drugs.