title: Antimicrobial Activity of Medicinal Plants Correlates with the Proportion of Antagonistic Endophytes.
abstract: Medicinal plants are known to harbor potential endophytic microbes, due to their bioactive compounds. In a first study of ongoing research, endophytic bacteria were isolated from two medicinal plants,Hypericum perforatumandZiziphora capitatawith contrasting antimicrobial activities from the Chatkal Biosphere Reserve of Uzbekistan, and their plant-specific traits involved in biocontrol and plant growth promotion were evaluated. Plant extracts ofH. perforatumexhibited a remarkable activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens, whereas extracts ofZ. capitatadid not exhibit any potential antimicrobial activity. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF) mass spectrometry (MS) was used to identify plant associated culturable endophytic bacteria. The isolated culturable endophytes associated withH. perforatumbelong to eight genera (Arthrobacter, Achromobacter, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Serratia, andStenotrophomonas). The endophytic isolates fromZ. capitataalso contain those genera exceptArthrobacter,Serratia, andStenotrophomonas.H. perforatumwith antibacterial activity supported more bacteria with antagonistic activity, as compared toZ. capitata. The antagonistic isolates were able to control tomato root rot caused byFusarium oxysporumand stimulated plant growth under greenhouse conditions and could thus be a cost-effective source for agro-based biological control agents.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research Müncheberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Dilfuza
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Egamberdieva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research Müncheberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wirth
authors.affiliation: Institute of Landscape Biogeochemistry, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research Müncheberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Undine
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Behrendt
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, King Saud UniversityRiyadh, Saudi Arabia; Department of Botany, Sri Pratap CollegeSrinagar, India.
authors.forename: Parvaiz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Berg
keywords: Hypericum perforatum; Ziziphora capitata; antagonism; antimicrobial activity; endophytic bacteria; plant growth traits