Antiviral Activity of Marine Actinomycetes, Saccharopolyspora jiangxiensis IMA1 against Influenza A/(H1N1) pdm09

Influenza viruses are major communicable pathogens responsible for respiratory diseases affecting millions worldwide and denoted by increased morbidity and significant mortality. Antiviral drugs and periodical vaccination are used to control Influenza infections. The utility of currently available drugs is of major concern due to emergence of drug resistance. This necessitates the development of novel antiviral drugs from natural resources. Broad arsenal of highly effective novel anti-influenza drugs can be developed from actinomycetes which have been explored for development of an array of antimicrobials. Fractions of methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous of the Saccharopolyspora jiangxiensis IMA1 were employed to assess the antiviral activity against Oseltamivir resistant influenza A/(H1N1)pdm09 virus. MTT, Plaque Reduction, Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) and DAPI staining assays were performed to validate the study findings. Selectivity Index value of 18.38µg/ml concentration of the fraction was found to be effective to inhibit the growth of influenza viruses employing the Madin-Darby Canine Kidney cell line. Fraction produced a visually noticeable reduction in cytopathic effect as well as a reduction in viral titre as determined by the reduction in plaque formation. qRT-PCR assay clearly showed a linear relationship between the fraction concentration and the Ct values, demonstrating the virus growth inhibitory activity of the fraction. S.jiangxiensis IMA1 ethyl acetate fraction showed promising antiviral activity as revealed by inhibiting the amplification of influenza virus type A/(H1N1)pdm09. The research findings will be useful for the development of new antiviral drug from the bioactive actinomycetes extractions.