Current Microbiology

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-018-1557-2

REVIEW ARTICLE

Pigments from Soil Bacteria and Their Therapeutic Properties: A Mini

Review
Roqayya Mumtaz1,3 · Samina Bashir1,3 · Muhammad Numan1 · Zabta Khan Shinwari2 · Muhammad Ali1

Received: 20 March 2018 / Accepted: 22 August 2018

© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
Advancement in research on dyes obtained from natural sources e.g., plants, animals, insects and micro-organisms is widen-
ing the application of natural dyes in various fields. The natural dyes substituted their synthetic analogs at the beginning of
twentieth century due to their improved quality, value, ease of production, ease of dyeing and some other factors. This era
of dominance ended soon when toxic effects of synthetic dyes were reported. In the last few decades, pigments from micro-
organisms especially soil derived bacteria is replacing dyes from other natural sources because of the increasing demand for
safe, non-toxic, and biodegradable natural product. Apart from application in agriculture practices, cosmetics, textile, food
and paper industries, bacterial pigments have additional biological activities e.g., anti-tumor, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial,
immunosuppressive anti-viral, and many more which make them a potential candidate for pharmaceutical industry. Optimi-
zation of culture conditions and fermentation medium is the key strategies for large scale production of these natural dyes.
An effort has been done to give an overview of pigments obtained from bacteria of soil origin, their dominance over dyes
from other sources (natural and synthetic) and applications in the medical world in the underlying study.

* Roqayya Mumtaz
rouqyamumtaz455@gmail.com
* Samina Bashir
saminabashir19@yahoo.com
Zabta Khan Shinwari
shinwari2008@gmail.com
1
Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad, Pakistan
2
Qarshi University, Lahore, Pakistan
3
Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biological
Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad 45320,
Pakistan

13
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 R. Mumtaz et al.

exploitation of micro-organisms for the presence of medici-

Introduction
nal entities [9].
Despite the fruitful history, natural color industry was
Background of the Study
domineered by the advent of synthetic dye industry [10].
Problems like lack of plantation of dye producing plants,
Bacteria is considered as the most numerously culturable
reduced accessibility of dye producing materials due to dif-
soil micro-organism, ranging from fragile (damaged and
ficulty in collection, low color yield, dyeing process com-
sometimes killed by slight changes in soil environment)
plexity, limited number and non-reproducibility of dyes and
to tough (tolerate severe cold, heat and drying). Some can
sometimes poor fastness properties were the few main rea-
wait for suitable conditions, so lie quiescent for years. Oth-
sons. Further development of synthetic dyes at the beginning
ers can either get nitrogen directly from the environment
of the twentieth century improved the value and quality of
or from the breakdown of toxic materials [1]. Bacteria are
the dyes and made them more acceptable than their natural
usually thought to be disease causing microbes and its true
counterparts.
in some cases but many are harmless or even beneficial
The era of synthetic dye dominance over the whole dye
for the mankind. Researchers are focusing on the positive
industry ended only a decade ago when the toxic effects of
side of this creature and have discovered amazing abilities
dyes during wearing were reported and created a serious
that are interesting in their own way [2]. Pigment produc-
concern [11]. It was also reported that these dyes affect the
tion by bacteria is the area of great interest from the very
aquatic fauna by decreasing the amount of dissolved oxygen
beginning of Bacteriology, possibly because it is the most
in water [12]. In the 1960s, the environmental activists in US
readily observed microbial characteristics [3]. Awareness
took action against the use of synthetic food additives and
of conservation of environment and human safety has cre-
this approach became viral. Green movement was started for
ated fresh enthusiasm to obtain colors from natural sources
the use of natural food additives by activists and their nutri-
because of their non-carcinogenic, biodegradable, and
tional values were highlighted. Because of these activities,
non-toxic nature [4].
nowadays synthetic colors are interpreted as contaminants
Pigmentation is a common attribute of chromogenic
[13].
bacteria and the colors displayed by them are due to light
Two major sources of natural pigments are micro-
absorbing compounds. These pigments produced by the
organisms and plants [14, 15]. The pigments derived from
bacteria act as defensive agents e.g., xanthomonadin pro-
plants possess several drawbacks as compared to pigments
duced by Xanthomonas oryzae protects from photo dam-
from bacteria e.g., instability against adverse pH, heat or
age [5]. The multifunctional nature of bacterial pigments
light, low solubility in water, and are often consistently not
has been demonstrated in various fields e.g., cosmetics,
available. Certain properties make microbial pigments an
food and pharmaceutical industry [6, 7]. To date more than
emerging field of research and of great interest for vari-
50,000 drugs are microbe derived products, mostly from
ous applications. These include availability of cultivation
soil microbes [8]. The emergence of several complicated
technology [16, 17], stability [18], fast and easy growth on
and untreatable anomalies and drug resistance demands the

13
Pigments from Soil Bacteria and Their Therapeutic Properties: A Mini Review
culture media, independence of weather conditions, vari-
ety of shades which are biodegradable and environment-
friendly and most importantly independence of specific
culture conditions e.g., extreme temperature and pH [19].
Micro-organisms produce pigments with lower residue
and higher fermentation yield as compared to animals
and plants [20]. Carotenoid production by plants, animals
and microbes is taken as an example in this regard. Apart
from geographic and seasonal variability, carotenoid syn-
thesis by plants do not possess hazardous waste produc-
tion as in case of chemical synthesis and hence is safe
and environment-friendly. On the other hand, carotenoid
production by microbes ensures more safety and is eco-
nomical in terms of cost [21]. Some of these carotenoid
producing bacteria are Rhodobacter sphaeroides [22],
Flavobacterium multivorum [23], Agrobacterium auran-
tiacum, Gordonia jacobea, Paracoccus carotinifaciens
[24], and Sphingomonas sp. [25]. The safety of natural
dyes cannot be preponderance by its slightly raised cost
i.e. US$1000/kg for β-carotene as compared to US$500/
kg for synthetic one.
Soil Bacterial Pigments
A number of pigments are produced by various type of
micro-organisms e.g., carotenoids, melanins, flavins,
quinones, prodigiosins and more specifically monascins,
violacein, or indigo. Some of the soil bacteria and their
bioactive pigments are shown in Table 1.
Therapeutic Applications of Pigments
Extracted from Soil Bacteria
One of the leading causes of death is infectious diseases,
responsible for approximately 13.3 billion mortality cases
worldwide. Currently, infectious agents are becoming
more resistant to the drugs used against them and are caus-
ing severe life threatening disease. The increase in these
irresistible infectious events cannot be fully explained [48,
72]. For the prevention and treatment of these diseases,
natural sources are constantly evaluated and examined for
their potential role. The chemical applications, efficacy
and certain properties e.g., anti-fungal, anti-cancer and
immune suppression of the pigmented bacteria reported so
far in different studies make them a great area of interest.
Sufficient advancement has been achieved in this field and
bioactive compound examination of pigmented bacteria is
increasing exponentially as the rate of compound isolation
from bacteria is faster as compared to other organisms
[10]. Therapeutic applications of soil derived bacterial
pigments are discussed below.
Anti‑cancer Potential of Soil Bacterial Pigments
Despite the fact that cancer death rates are decreased con-
tinuously over the past 2 decades and about 1.7 million
cancer cases were prevented causing an overall drop of
23%, cancer is still one of the leading cause of mortality.
Continued basic and clinical research is required to fight
with this fatal disease [73]. Among all the potential anti-
cancer drugs from natural sources bacterial pigments are
less assessed in past and trend has been shifted towards
them with many recent studies in this regard e.g., the anti-
tumor property of prodigiosin by S. marcescens [74].
The cytotoxic potency of prodigiosin has been investi-
gated in the standard 60 cell line panels of human tumor
cells. Inhibition of cell proliferation and induction of cell
death has been observed in these cell lines. In vitro anti-
cancer activity has also been reported for different prodigi-
osin analogs [10] and its cytotoxic potential against pan-
creatic cancer rises hope for treatment of the most deadly
disease in the USA, killing 30,000 individuals per year
[75]. Violacein, a pigment isolated from C. violaceum, was
reported to cause Human leukemia cell death. Violacein
mediates apoptosis by activating signal transduction TNF
receptor 1 and represents the novel class of cytotoxic drugs
[76]. Beta carotene, an orange–yellow pigment isolated
from Rhodococcus maris, reduces the risk of breast can-
cer [10]. Doxorubicin, a red pigment isolated from Strep-
tomyces peucetius and Streptomyces venezuelae, proved
itself as a promising anti-tumor compound [46, 49]. Beside
these, Deinoxanthin and quinone-anthracycline are unique
red colored bioactive compounds isolated from D. radio-
durans and Streptosporangium with strong anti-tumor
therapeutic potential [35, 54].
Antileishmanial Potential of Soil Bacterial Pigments
More than 12 million people worldwide are affected by
Leishmaniasis, the most fatal and disfiguring protozoan dis-
ease. The drugs used for the treatment of disease are poten-
tially toxic and developed 50 years ago. Violacein extracted
from C. violaceum showed 10 times less activity than penta-
midine, which is a second choice drug used in the treatment
of leishmaniasis. Although more effective than violacein,
pentamidine is extremely toxic resulting in changes in elec-
trocardiogram, renal and hepatic problems [72, 77]. Viola-
cein can be a better choice in future for treatment of this life
threatening disease. Currently, other soil bacteria are also
evaluated for their antileishmanial potential and discovery
of novel drugs is expected. Up to date, only one study has
13
 R. Mumtaz et al.

Table 1  Pigment producing soil bacteria and their application

Year Soil bacteria Pigment Color Application References

2018 Dyadobacter flavus Flexirubin-type Yellow Skin disease, gastric ulcer [26]
2018 Dyadobacter terricola Flexirubin-type Yellow Skin disease, gastric ulcer [26]
2018 Deinococcus rufus Quinone Red Antimicrobial [27]
2018 Bacillus sp. Squalene Yellowish-orange
Promote plant growth under salt and metal [28]
stress
2017 Neisseria spp. Unknown Red Anti-bacterial activity [29]
2017 Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pyocyanin Blue green Control phytopathogen [30]
2017 Sphingomonas antarctica Unknown Yellow Catalase negative(help the bacteria to survive) [31]
2017 Bacillus megaterium Unknown Orange Anti-bacterial and antioxidant properties [32]
2017 Mucilaginibacter terrae Unknown Red pink Unknown [33]
2017 Microvirga aerilata Unknown Yellow Enzyme production (amylase) [32]
2016 Hymenobacter sp. Carotenoid Red Photosensitizers in dye sensitized solar cells [34]
2016 Chryseobacterium sp. Carotenoid Yellow Photosensitizers in dye sensitized solar cells [34]
2015 Deinococcus radiodurans Deinoxanthin Red Anticancer [35]
2015 Micrococcus luteus Sarcinaxanthin Yellow Unknown [36]
2015 Pseudomonas zhaodongensis Ubiquinone Yellow–orange Cardiovascular disease [37]
2015 Bacillus weihenstephanensis Melanin-like Dark brown Protection against light damage [38]
2014 Streptomyces iakyrus Phenazinomycin Blue Anticancer [39]
2014 Chryseobacterium sp. Flexirubin type Yellowish-orange Chronic skin disease, eczema, gastric ulcers [40]
2014 Chryseobacterium artocarpi Menaquinone Yellow Unknown [41]
2012 Streptomyces sp. Undecylprodigiosin Deep red Anti-bacterial, antioxidative and protection [42]
against photo damage
2012 Chryseobacterium vietnamense Flexirubin type Yellow Skin disease [43]
2012 Streptomyces gramineus Melanin Dark brown Photo protection [44]
2011 Bacillus cereus Azaphenanthrene Green Antimicrobial [45]
2011 Streptomyces venezuelae Doxorubicin Red Anticancer [46]
2011 Streptomyces caeruleatus sp. Unknown Dark blue Anti-bacterial activity [47]
2011 Streptomyces hygroscopicus Sugar molecules Yellow Antimicrobial [48]
2010 Streptomyces peucetius Doxorubicin Red Anticancer [49]
2010 Streptomyces coelicolor Actinorhodin Blue Antibiotics [50]
2009 Streptomyces hygroscopicus Unknown Yellow Anti-bacterial [48]
2009 Kineococcus xinjiangensis sp. Unknown Brown–orange Unknown [51]
2009 Janthinobacterium lividum XT1 Violacein Violet Anticancer, antileishmanial, antibiotic, antivi- [52]
ral, anti-tumoral and anti-Trypanosoma cruzi
activities
2007 Streptomyces vietnamensis Unknown Violet blue Unknown [53]
2006 R. sphaeroides Carotenoid Unknown Precursors of vitamin A, scavengers of active [22]
oxygen, antitumor
2006 Streptosporangium Quinone-anthracycline Red Antimicrobial and anticancer [54]
2004 Sphingomonas sp. β-carotene Orange–yellow Anticancer, cardiovascular and eye disease [25]
2003 Flavobacterium sp. Ant342 Flexirubin Yellow orange Chemotherapy of tuberculosis [55]
2003 Chromobacterium violaceum Violacein Violet Anti-viral and cytotoxic activity [56]
2002 B. megaterium Chlorxanthomycin Yellow–orange Anti-bacterial [57]
2002 Sinorhizobium meliloti Turbomycin A Orange Antibiotic [58]
2002 Sinorhizobium meliloti Turbomycin B Red Antibiotic [58]
2002 Sinorhizobium meliloti Melanin like pigment Dark brown Protection against light damage [58]
2001 Corynebacterium glutamicum Decaprenoxanthin Yellow Protection against photo damage [59]
2001 Gordonia jacobaea Canthaxanthin Reddish-orange Unknown [60]
2000 Brevibacterium linens Carotenoid Yellowish-orange Cheese ripening [61]
1997 Streptomyces aureofaciens Tetracycline Yellow Antibiotic [62]
1996 Streptomyces lividans Actinorhodin Blue Antibiotic [63]

13
Pigments from Soil Bacteria and Their Therapeutic Properties: A Mini Review
Table 1  (continued)
Year Soil bacteria Pigment
1995 Arthobacter hyalinus Uroporphyrin III
1995 Arthrobacter globiformis Riboflavin
1980 Flexibacter elegans Flexirubin
1978 Streptomyces echinoruber Rubrolone
1973 Arthrobacter oxydans Indigoidine
1966 Micrococcus roseus Canthaxanthin
1960 S. aureofaciens Tetracycline
1960 Streptomyces psammoticus Tetracycline
been reported on the antileishmanial activity of bacterial
pigments. Further research needs to be performed to fully
understand the mechanism involved in this activity.
Anti‑viral Properties of Soil Bacterial Pigments
Infectious diseases are causing approximately 20% of the
mortality worldwide and 1/3 of these cases are caused by
viruses, the prodigious club of microbes [78]. The spread
and emergence of these viruses has been accelerated by
rapid air transit, a specific traits of modernization and a
demographic trait, urbanization [79]. Although disease out-
breaks can be controlled and detected by rapid diagnostics,
long-term strategy for public health is usually vaccine-based
prevention [80]. To combat this problem of medical com-
munity, natural sources are continuously screened for their
anti-viral potential and many bacterial pigments have been
triumphantly announced which halt the viral replication
cycle either by altering host cell portion essential for repli-
cation of virus or viral components. A remarkable anti-viral
property of violacein isolated from C. violaceum against
MA104, Vero, HEp-2 and FRhK-4 cells was reported. A
concentration-response relationship was shown by viola-
cein as with the increase in concentration, the cytotoxicity
increased gradually [56]. Violacein extracted from Janthino-
bacterium lividum XT1 also showed anti-viral potential [52].
Anti‑bacterial Ability of Soil Bacteria Pigments
High prevalence of infectious diseases due to raised fre-
quency of opportunistic pathogens and development of anti-
biotic resistance is a warning for the medical community
[81]. Annual mortality rate due to these drug resistant infec-
tions is about 7 lac people worldwide and this is expected to
affect about 10 million people by 2050, if necessary actions
are not taken. A list of 12 bacteria is released by World
Health Organization (WHO) which are considered as great-
est threat to the health of human because of their resistance
Color Application References
Red Cofactors of various enzymes [64]
Yellow Conditioning the growth and the development [65]
in natural ecosystems
Orange Chronic skin disease, eczema, gastric ulcers [66]
Purple–red Antibiotic [67]
Blue Increased resistance to oxidative stress [68]
Reddish-orange Unknown [69]
Yellow Antibiotic [70]
Yellow Antifungal [71]
for antibiotics. The most important are P. aeruginosa,
Enterobacteriaceae, and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Enough
drug development is needed to combat them. Among the
natural sources, bacteria produce various type of pigments
with anti-bacterial properties e.g., melanins, carotenoids,
flavins, monascins, quinones and violacein [82].
The violet pigment containing deoxyviolacein and viola-
cein produced by soil bacterium, Massilia sp. showed strong
activity against B. subtilis, E. coli and S. aureus making it a
potential candidate as an antibiotic [83]. The bioactive pig-
ment of Streptomyces hygroscopicus in other study showed
activity against VRSA, MRSA, and ESBL cultures of Kleb-
siella sp. and E. coli [48]. Gram negative bacteria such as
Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas spp. were inhibited by red
pigment isolated from Neisseria [29]. The anti-bacterial
activity of the orange pigment of B. megaterium SU15 was
reported against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi.
The yellow pigment of Streptomyces hygroscopicus showed
activity against MRSA, VRSA, and ESBL cultures of E. coli
and Klebsiella sp. [48]. Prodigiosin, extracted and purified
from Chromobacterium prodgiosum, were antagonistic to
the growth of Bacillus subtilis, Corynebacterium diphthe-
riae and Staphylococcus aureus.
Anti‑fungal Ability of Soil Bacteria Pigments
Over the past 2 decades, a number of fatal fungal and fungal
like diseases are reported in both animals and plants that are
also involved in compromising food security [84]. Tradition-
ally amphotericin B used for the anti-fungal therapy is costly
and toxic (due to infusion-related events e.g., fevers, rigors,
chills and nephrotoxicity). To overcome these problems,
natural sources (plants and bacteria) are evaluated for their
anti-fungal potential. Among the reported pigmented bac-
teria with anti-fungal properties, Serratia marcescens and
Neisseria spp. are studied extensively. The pigment prodigo-
sin is a tripyrrole forming red pillar box colonies [85], first
characterized from Serratia marcescens and was reported
to be effective bio control agent against cyclamen’s gray
13

mold. Spore germination was inhibited by the red pigment
extracted and purified from bacteria. A synergistic inhibitory
effect was observed, when chitinolytic enzymes and prod-
igosin were applied in combination [86]. Strong activity was
shown by the red pigment isolated and purified from Neisse-
ria spp., a soil bacteria, against different fungal species e.g.,
Aspergillus spp., Candida spp. and Trichoderma spp. [29].
Immunosuppressive Potential of Soil Bacterial
Pigments
Immunosuppressant drugs are a class of drugs that suppress,
or reduce, the strength of the body’s immune system. Some
of these drugs are used to make the body less likely to reject
a transplanted organ, such as a liver, heart, or kidney [87].
A number of immunosuppressive drugs have been derived
from natural sources. Nakamura and co-workers reported the
immunosuppressive activity of prodigiosin in 1989 for the
first time. These researches showed the presence of prodigi-
osin and metacycloprodigiosin in Serratia culture broth and
as compared to that of B-cells, selective inhibition of T-cells
polyclonal inhibition was reported [10].
Conclusion
Up to date, a number of review papers appeared in literature
covers apparently every aspect of pigment producing micro-
organisms (bacteria, fungi). While others have focused on
biological and industrial applications of pigments from
microbes from different origins, to the best of our knowl-
edge it is the first study of this type which gives a deep
insight about pigments from soil bacteria specifically, and
their potential applications in the field of medicine. Most of
the studies on bacterial pigments have investigated their effi-
cacy and potential pharmacological applications e.g., their
use as anti-cancer, anti-parasitic, anti-viral, anti-bacterial,
agent and many more. Fast and easy growth, independence
of weather condition, variety of shades, and inexpensive
media requirement make soil bacteria a potential candidate
for large scale production of pigments. Overall, this review
emphasizes on the importance of soil bacterial pigments
in comparison with their synthetic and natural analogs and
their wide variety of clinical applications.
Future Prospects
The ascendancy of multifunctional bacterial pigments over
synthetic dyes started with 1960s green revolution and do
not indicate any decrease. Up to date, extensive research
carried out in this field has brought bacterial pigments from
bench to market but further research is required to explore
13
R. Mumtaz et al.
new microbial sources for pigment production, genetic engi-
neering for strain improvement, evaluation of therapeutic
potential, and commercialization of the new potential drugs
to eradicate toxic synthetic ones. There should be more
focus on investigating the mechanism of action behind the
pharmacological potential of bacterial pigments that will be
eventually helpful in designing new strategies for the treat-
ment of lethal anomalies. Future studies must be directed
towards the chemical structure of bacterial pigments and the
structure–function correlation.
Compliance with Ethical Standards 
Conflict of interest  The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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