Sharmili AS and Ramasamy P
A total of 18 out of 44 moderately thermophlic bacteria isolated from water samples of the Coramandal Coast, Chennai, Tamilnadu, were analyzed for Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (FAME). The present study showed that the predominant fatty acid was 15:0i followed by 15:0a, which were characteristic of Bacillus. The results suggest that the order of decreasing abundance of terminally branched fatty acids is as follows: iso even-numbered acids namely 16:0i, 14:0i, iso odd-numbered acids, 15:0i, 17:0i, 13:0i, 19:0i and anteiso acids, 15:0a, 17:0a, 11:0a, 19:0a. Straight chain saturated fatty acids identified were 10:0, 12:0, 14:0, 16:0, 18:0. The remaining fatty acids components were present in negligible quantities. The isolates were also identified and classified using the comparison with the TSBA database as B. cereus-GC subgroup A (isolates ASR 29CIII, ASR 37CIII), B. subtilis (isolates ASR 6SII, ASR 21SI, ASR 25SV), B. laevolacticus (isolates ASR 4LIII, ASR 7SIII, ASR 11LVI, ASR 42SVII), B. alcalophilus (isolates ASR 14PI, ASR 18PIV), B. pumilus subgroup A (isolate- ASR 41PVIII), Staphylococcus schleiferi (isolates- ASR 2LII, ASR 5LIV), S. gallinarum-GC subgroup A (isolates ASR 13SIV, ASR 33SVI), Kurthia sibirica (isolate ASR 15PII), Geobacillus stearothermophilus-GC subgroup (isolate ASR 8LV).
