{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8591"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/8591","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Isolation and characterisation of antibiotic-producing marine actinomycetes","abstract":"Resistance to antibiotics poses a serious threat to healthcare and new drugs are needed. This is especially true for tuberculosis (TB), which is at epidemic levels in South Africa. Multidrug-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis makes TB more difficult and expensive to treat and increases mortality rates. The surfaces of 12 seaweed species found in South African coastal waters were screened for the presence of antibiotic-producing actinomycetes. Of the 67 strains isolated, 26 exhibited antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium aurum A+ and for Enterococcus faecium VanA. These actinomycete strains were physiologically characterised. Three strains showing very strong antibacterial activity were further characterised by the use of chemical taxonomy, DNA sequencing and scanning electron microscopy and were shown to belong to the genus Streptomyces. A strain not showing activity was shown by the same methods to belong to the genus Micromonospora. Partial purification of the active compounds was carried out on the three strains exhibiting strong antibacterial activity. All were shown to produce moderately to highly polar compounds.","abstract_html":"Resistance to antibiotics poses a serious threat to healthcare and new drugs are needed. This is especially true for tuberculosis (TB), which is at epidemic levels in South Africa. Multidrug-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis makes TB more difficult and expensive to treat and increases mortality rates. The surfaces of 12 seaweed species found in South African coastal waters were screened for the presence of antibiotic-producing actinomycetes. Of the 67 strains isolated, 26 exhibited antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium aurum A+ and for Enterococcus faecium VanA. These actinomycete strains were physiologically characterised. Three strains showing very strong antibacterial activity were further characterised by the use of chemical taxonomy, DNA sequencing and scanning electron microscopy and were shown to belong to the genus Streptomyces. A strain not showing activity was shown by the same methods to belong to the genus Micromonospora. Partial purification of the active compounds was carried out on the three strains exhibiting strong antibacterial activity. All were shown to produce moderately to highly polar compounds.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Porter, Donovan Stuart"],"institution":"Department of Molecular and Cell Biology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Meyers, Paul"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003","date_published":"2003","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:38Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8591","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Meyers, Paul"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Porter, Donovan Stuart"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-10-18T05:54:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-10-18T05:54:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2003"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Molecular and Cell Biology"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MSc"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8591"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Bibliography: leaves 94-102."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Resistance to antibiotics poses a serious threat to healthcare and new drugs are needed. This is especially true for tuberculosis (TB), which is at epidemic levels in South Africa. Multidrug-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis makes TB more difficult and expensive to treat and increases mortality rates. The surfaces of 12 seaweed species found in South African coastal waters were screened for the presence of antibiotic-producing actinomycetes. Of the 67 strains isolated, 26 exhibited antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium aurum A+ and for Enterococcus faecium VanA. These actinomycete strains were physiologically characterised. Three strains showing very strong antibacterial activity were further characterised by the use of chemical taxonomy, DNA sequencing and scanning electron microscopy and were shown to belong to the genus Streptomyces. A strain not showing activity was shown by the same methods to belong to the genus Micromonospora. Partial purification of the active compounds was carried out on the three strains exhibiting strong antibacterial activity. All were shown to produce moderately to highly polar compounds."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Isolation and characterisation of antibiotic-producing marine actinomycetes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Meyers, Paul"],"dc:creator":["Porter, Donovan Stuart"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-10-18T05:54:58Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-10-18T05:54:58Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2003"],"dc:description":["Bibliography: leaves 94-102."],"dc:description.abstract":["Resistance to antibiotics poses a serious threat to healthcare and new drugs are needed. This is especially true for tuberculosis (TB), which is at epidemic levels in South Africa. Multidrug-resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis makes TB more difficult and expensive to treat and increases mortality rates. The surfaces of 12 seaweed species found in South African coastal waters were screened for the presence of antibiotic-producing actinomycetes. Of the 67 strains isolated, 26 exhibited antibacterial activity against Mycobacterium aurum A+ and for Enterococcus faecium VanA. These actinomycete strains were physiologically characterised. Three strains showing very strong antibacterial activity were further characterised by the use of chemical taxonomy, DNA sequencing and scanning electron microscopy and were shown to belong to the genus Streptomyces. A strain not showing activity was shown by the same methods to belong to the genus Micromonospora. Partial purification of the active compounds was carried out on the three strains exhibiting strong antibacterial activity. All were shown to produce moderately to highly polar compounds."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/8591"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Molecular and Cell Biology"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["Isolation and characterisation of antibiotic-producing marine actinomycetes"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MSc"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:23:38Z"}