الفهرس 
Biological activities of algaeOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
The present study is an endeavor towards the production of
antibacterial active substances by some species of blue green
(cyanobacteria). One species of blue-green algae was tested for algae
capacity to produce antibacterial substances. Cyanobacteria (bluegreen
algae) are a group of extraordinary diverse Gram-negative
prokaryotes that originated 3.5 billion years ago. The medicinal and
nutrient qualities of cyanobacteria were first appreciated as early as
1500 BC, when Nostoc species were used to treat gout, fistula and
several forms of cancer (Liu and Chen, 2003). Various workers had
studied the antimicrobial properties of Cyanobacteria. In different
studies, various crude extracts from Fischerella sp. (Asthana et al.,
2006), Oscillatoria anguistisima and Calothrix parietina (Issa,1999),
Anabaena, Oscillatoria, Pseudoanabaena, Synechocystis (Kreitlow et
al., 1999),Nostoc (Bloor and England, 1989),Phormedium (Fish and
Codd, 1994),Fischerella ambigua (Ghasemi et al., 2004), Spirulina
Platensis (Kaushik and Chauhan, 2008) were evaluated for their
antimicrobial effects on pathogenic microorganisms. They have also
reported that the extracts prepared in different solvents were effective
against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. Algae have a
significant attraction as natural source of bioactive molecules with a
broad range of biological activities, including antimicrobial, antiviral,
anticancer, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects (Tuney et al., 2006
and Patra et al., 2008).
Algae contain minerals, polysaccharides, amino acid derivatives,
carotenoids, and phenolic compounds. Some of these compounds can
display antioxidant properties at very low concentrations (Yuan and
Walsh, 2006). Microalgae have the potential to produce natural bioactive compounds (in culture), which are difficult to be produced by chemical
synthesis (Goud et al., 2007). Phenolic compounds, including
flavonoids, phenolic acids, and tannins are considered to be the major
contributors to the antioxidant property of higher plants. These
compounds also possess diverse biological activities, such as antiinflammatory,
anti-atherosclerotic, and anti-carcinogenic activities
(Fresco et al., 2006).