M.D. Makut

M.D. Makut conducted an investigation aimed to determine the diversity of mesopholic fungi in the soil environment of Keffi metropolis and making an assement of their antibiotic producing potential. The term antibiotic has been defined in many different ways. According to Thomashow, L.S and Weller (1995), antibiotics defined as a chemically heterogeneous group that small organic molecules of microbial origin that at low concentration, are deleterious to the growth or metabolic activities of other microorganisms. A more interesting definition from Dutta and A.C (2005) that antibiotics as a miracle drugs of modern times that act as magic bullets shooting down the infective organisms that have invaded the human body and caused infections. From Sommer and C.V 2006, it stated that the first, best known and most widely used antibiotic penicillin was discovered by an English bacteriologist, Sir Alexander Fleming and was the first clinical trials tried on human. Taylor, D.J, Green, D.PO and Stout (2003) noted that Sir Alexander Fleming accidently discovered the penicillin in 1982 which show its efficiency in laboratory cultures against many disease producing bacteria and this discovery lead to the beginning development of antibacterial compounds by living organisms. Walsh. G 2003 mentions that Sir Alexander Fleming also discovered one of the most important in 1928 regarding the beneficial use of fungi for human that an isolate of Penicillium notatum produced a substance capable of killing Gram positive bacteria. This compound was the first member of the β-lactam class of antibiotics and function by inhibiting peptidoglycan synthesis in bacteria and their use has reduced the important of the Gram positive as a cause of disease. From Dutta and A.C (2005), in 1994, a Microbiologist Waksman isolated another antibiotic streptomycin from a species of soil bacteria called Streptomyces griseus, particulary tubercle bacilli and has proved to be very valuable against tuberculosis.