Exploring cave niches in the kathkie region of jammu division for industrial application of culturable microbial diversity

Abstract

newline The present study explored the microbial diversity of two secluded caves in the Kathkie region of Jammu division, yielding 108 bacterial and 9 fungal isolates. Twenty bacterial isolates exhibited noteworthy antimicrobial properties when tested with a plant, human and animal pathogens, with WS7 demonstrating the strongest antibacterial activity. Additionally, three of the four potential isolates (WS1, WS18, WS23) displayed significant antifungal activity against plant pathogens, with WS18 and WS23 showing the broadest spectrum of inhibition. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays further highlighted the strong antibacterial activity of WS23 against E. coli. Cytotoxicity assays on HEK-293 and HeLa cell lines revealed that all four isolates exhibited some degree of cytotoxicity. WS1 with IC50 (25.77 ± 2.50 µg/mL) and WS-7 (24.02 ± 0.94 µg/mL) are cytotoxic to human embryonic kidney cells, suggesting their potent inhibitory effects at low concentrations. In contrast, WS18 (65.22 ± 1.40 µg/mL) and WS23 (81.85 ± 2.37 µg/mL) displayed moderate toxicity with higher IC50 values. WS1 exhibited significant cytotoxicity against HeLa cell line with an IC50 value of 23.11 ± 3.56 µg/mL. WS18 also demonstrated strong cytotoxic effects, with an IC50 of 23.15 ± 0.87 µg/mL, indicating consistent results. WS7 showed moderate cytotoxicity, with a higher IC50 of 45.37 ± 12.51 µg/mL, reflecting greater variability. WS-23 was the most potent, with an IC50 of 3.39 ± 0.70 µg/mL, indicating strong and reliable cytotoxic activity against HeLa cells. WS18 and WS23 stood out by demonstrating strong antimicrobial activity against multiple pathogens and potent toxicity against HeLa cancer cells, while exhibiting low toxicity to HEK-293 cells. This makes them promising candidates for development into antibiotics or anticancer drugs with minimal adverse effects on healthy human cells.