Antifungal activity of some actinomycetes isolated from various habitats.

A total of 287 actinomycetes were isolated from 79 samples collected from five different habitats i.e., cultivated field soil (CFS), garden soil (GS), compost (CM), decaying organic matter (DOM) and stored agricultural products (SAP) of different localities of Sagar, Madhya Pradesh (23 degrees 50 degrees N latitude and 78 degrees 40 degrees E longitude). These were screened for antagonistic activity against Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Microsporum gypseun and Trichophyton sp. using 'Cross streak method'. Out of these, a total of 166 isolates were found antagonistic to Candida albicans, while 164, 134 and 132 actinomycetes showed antagonistic properties against A. niger, M. gypseum and Trichophyton sp., repectively. A total of 17 isolates showed very strong anticandidal activity causing total inhibition in the growth of C. albicans and hence, distribution of isolated test actinomycetes in different habitats and the cultural and antagonistic properties of selected 17 promising strains are reported here.