Antibacterial and antifungal activity in three species of siphonaria (Gastropoda: Pulmonata) collected from rocky ledge of mubarak Village,Karachi

In the present study hexane,chloroform,methanol,distilled water,hexane:chloroform,chloroform:methanol and methanol:distilled water extracts of three species of siphonaria,s. ashgar,s. belcheri and s. kurracheensis were screened for antibacterial and antifungal activity. the extracts were obtained from the whole body tissue and tested against bacterial strains,bacillus subtilis,staphylococcus aureus,escherichia coli,shigella flexneri,pseudomonas aeruginosa and salmonella typhi. pure methanol and chloroform:methanol were the best solvents for extracting antibacterial compounds from siphonaria species,whereas,pure hexane was the weakest solvent for the extraction. the extracts of s. ashgar showed antibacterial activity against five pathogenic bacteria,whereas,the extracts of s. belcheri and s. kurracheensis against two and three pathogenic bacteria,respectively. the only pathogenic bacterium found resistant to the siphonaria extracts was bacillus subtilis. the extracts of siphonaria species showed no antifungal activity against candida albicans,c. glabrata,aspergillus flavus,microsporum canis and fusarium solani. copyright © 2012 zoological society of pakistan.