Evaluation of antibacterial potential of medicinal plant Spilanthes acmella Murr. and it’s in vitro raised callus against resistant organisms especially those harbouring bla genes.

Alcoholic extracts of stem of an endangered medicinal plant Spilanthes acmella and its in vitro raised callus were evaluated for antibacterial potential against various gram positive and gram negative bacteria including resistant isolates harbouring bla genes by agar well diffusion method. The alcoholic extract of parent plant as well as its callus showed good antibacterial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria and also efficiently controlled the growth of most of the resistant bacteria harbouring bla genes. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the extracts was determined by broth microdilution method. MIC against gram positive bacteria ranged from 12.0 to 49.0 μg/ml, while MIC against gram negative bacteria ranged from 1.53 to 12.0 μg/ml and MIC against resistant bacteria harbouring bla genes ranged from 6.1 to 98.0 μg/ml. The present study shows that extracts of Spilanthes acmella contain good antibacterial activity which can be used to obtain novel antibacterial compounds for the treatment of infectious diseases that otherwise pose problem of drug resistance to currently used antimicrobials. This is the first report of antibacterial activity of S. acmella through in vitro callus and also it’s potential against gram negative bacteria harbouring bla genes.

Comparison of antifungal activity of medicinal plant Tylophora indica Merr. with its in vitro raised plant and callus.

The antifungal potential of medicinal plant Tylophora indica Merr. was evaluated by agar well diffusion method and it was compared with the activity of its in vitro raised plant and callus . The extracts of in vitro raised plant and callus showed better antifungal activity against the tested fungal species as compared to parent plant. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the extracts were determined by broth microdilution method. The MIC of the alcoholic leaf extracts of parent plant against tested fungi ranged from 12.0 to 98.0 μg/ml, whereas, the MIC of extract of in vitro raised plant and callus ranged from 1.53 to 49.0 μg/ml and 3.05 to 24.0 μg/ml respectively. The present study leads to conclusion that extracts of Tylophora indica contain good antifungal activity which could be used in the treatment of various fungal infections showing resistance to treatment by currently used antifungal agents. As the in vitro raised plant and callus gave good results, in vitro cultivation of the explants may be used to obtain novel antifungal compounds. This is the first report on antifungal activity of Tylophora indica through in vitro raised plant and its callus.