Investigating bioactive potential of the Serratia sp. CS01 and its pigment for anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antibacterial action

Microbial proteases and pigments contain biomolecular properties with considerable therapeutic and industrial applications. In the present investigation, a bacterial isolate named CS01 was taxonomically identified as Serratia sp., utilizing 16S rDNA sequencing. HPLC, MALDI-TOF analysis and SDS-PAGE (~ 60 kDa band) shows the presence of an anti-inflammatory protease. In addition, a red pigment was extracted from the isolate and identified as prodigiosin-like pigment, confirmed through UV–Vis spectrophotometry, FTIR, HPLC and HRMS analysis. The cell free supernatant showed Human red blood cell membrane stabilization of 79.3 ± 0.007%, while the pigment extract showed high stability of 95.33 ± 0.004%. The heat-induced haemolysis revealed 87.18 ± 0.003% of membrane protection for the cell free supernatant 95.57 ± 0.005% for pigment sample, showing comparable efficacy to that of diclofenac (94.37 ± 0.003%). The crude and pigment sample from CS01 also showed the ability to inhibit egg albumin denaturation with a range of 80.31 ± 0.01% and 85.6 ± 0.005%. In addition, Serratia sp. CS01 exhibited 55.93 ± 0.008% of antioxidant activity and its pigment showed 91.26 ± 0.28% at 1000 µg/mL. Antibacterial studies revealed the ability of the strain to inhibit the growth of Escherichia coli , Bacillus cereus , and Staphylococcus aureus . The MIC results for the pigment sample exhibited higher antibacterial efficacy in comparison to the crude extract, attaining inhibition rates nearing 90% within a concentration spectrum (10–150 µg/mL). Collectively, these results summarize that Serratia sp. CS01 simultaneously produces both anti-inflammatory protease and prodigiosin-like pigment having anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties. This highlights Serratia sp. CS01 as a promising microbial source of multifunctional biomolecules with prospective therapeutic and industrial applications.