Characterization of phenazine-1-carboxylic acid by Klebsiella sp. NP-C49 from the coral environment in Gulf of Kutch, India.

Coral-associated microbes from Marine National Park (MNP), Gulf of Kutch (GoK), Gujarat, India, were screened for siderophore production. Maximum siderophore-producing isolate NP-C49 and its compound were identified and characterized. The isolate was identified as Klebsiella sp. through 16S rRNA genes sequencing (GenBank accession nos. KY412519 and MTCC 25160). Antibiotic susceptibility profile against 20 commercial antibiotics showed its more sensitivity compared to human pathogenic strain, i.e., Klebsiella pneumonia. The compound was identified as phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (PCA) using the multinuclear ID (1H and 13C) and 2D (1H-1H COSY and 1H-13C HETCOR) NMR along with high-resolution mass spectrometry. No significant difference in the bacterial growth in the presence of PCA, FeCl3 and Fe(OH)3 indicated involvement of factors other than PCA in bacterial growth. The study first reports the identification and characterization of PCA from Klebsiella sp. both from terrestrial and marine sources.