Nitrocellulose membranes ( BA85 ) were obtained from Schleicher and Schuell, Germany. GeneScreen and GeneScreen Plus membranes were from DuPont, USA. Millipore membranes ( 0.45 um ) were from Millipore Corporation, USA. 3 MM and 1 MM chromatography filter papers were from Whatman Ltd, U.K.

other Materials.

The procedure of Sharma et al. (2000) was used to estimate the gallic acid in the culture filtrate. Reagents: Methanolic rhodanine solution (0.667% w/v): Prepared by dissolving 0.667 g of rhodanine in 100 ml of methanol.Potassium hydroxide (0.5 N): 2.8 gpotassium hydroxide dissolved in100 ml of distilled water.