title: Antibacterial activities of essential oils and extracts of Turkish Achillea, Satureja and Thymus species against plant pathogenic bacteria.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aims of this study were to examine the chemical composition of the essential oils and hexane extracts of the aerial parts of Satureja spicigera (C. Koch) Boiss., Thymus fallax Fisch. & CA Mey, Achillea biebersteinii Afan, and Achillea millefolium L. by GC and GC-MS, and to test antibacterial efficacy of essential oils and n-hexane, chloroform, acetone and methanol extracts as an antibacterial and seed disinfectant against 25 agricultural plant pathogens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene, thymol methyl ether and gamma-terpinene were the main constituents of S. spicigera and T. fallax oils and hexane extracts. The main components of the oil of Achillea millefolium were 1,8-cineole, delta-cadinol and caryophyllene oxide, whereas the hexane extract of this species contained mainly n-hexacosane, n-tricosane and n-heneicosane. The oils and hexane extracts of S. spicigera and T. fallax exhibited potent antibacterial activity over a broad spectrum against 25 phytopathogenic bacterial strains. Carvacrol and thymol, the major constituents of S. spicigera and T. fallax oils, also showed potent antibacterial effect against the bacteria tested. The oils of Achillea species showed weak antibacterial activity. Our results also revealed that the essential oil of S. spicigera, thymol and carvacrol could be used as potential disinfection agents against seed-borne bacteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results demonstrate that S. spicigera, T. fallax oils, carvacrol and thymol could become potentials for controlling certain important agricultural plant pathogenic bacteria and seed disinfectant.
authors.affiliation: Atatürk University, Department of Plant Protection, 25240-Erzurum, Turkey.
authors.forename: Recep
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kotan
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cakir
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dadasoglu
authors.forename: Tuba
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cakmakci
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ozer
authors.forename: Saban
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kordali
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mete
authors.forename: Neslihan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dikbas
mesh_terms: D031162:Achillea / Q000737:chemistry; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000737:chemistry*; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D031362:Satureja / Q000737:chemistry; D012639:Seeds / Q000382:microbiology; D046930:Thymus Plant / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004202:Disinfectants; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010936:Plant Extracts