Abstract
The antifouling activities of a marine bacterium isolated from the surface of the seaweed Sargassum wightii is presented in this paper. The extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) of the bacterial strain showed inhibitory activity against the bacteria involving in biofilm formation. The EPS reduced the adhesion of biofilm forming bacteria on hard surface. The EPS was mixed with varnish and coated onto acrylic coupons. The adhesion assay showed that the number of cells adhered on the control coupons were higher than that the number of cells found on the slides coated with EPS. The antifouling assay conducted in the costal water showed that the EPS of the strain also have inhibitory activity against the settlement of biofouling organisms. Thin-layer chromatographic analysis indicated a single active compound in the EPS. In conclusion, results indicated that the bacteria associated with the seaweeds could provide leads for the development of natural product based antifouling agents.