ABSTRACT
Most antibiotics used today are isolated and extracted from microbial source. The emergence of antibiotic resistance and need for better, broad spectrum antibiotics is always in high demand. In the present study, antibiotic producing bacteria were isolated from a local soil sample. After primary screening, two bacterial strains (strain 1 and 2) were isolated, which showed antimicrobial activity against some common bacteria namely, E. coli, K. pneumonia, S. aureus, P.aeruginosa and M. smegmatis. The isolated strains showed prominent zones of inhibition against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus and P. Aeruginosa but not against M. smegmatis. To identify the isolated strains, biochemical tests were performed and it was found that both the strains were Bacillus sp with some differences in cultural characteristics. The strains were also found to be resistant to some antibiotics such as tetracycline. The screen for the presence of any plasmid which might be influencing antibiotic production by these strains, the cultures were used for extraction of plasmids wherein, both the strains were observed to have a plasmid of ~ 10 kb. Further study in identification of these strains will be helpful in improving these strains for antibiotic production.