AUTHOR=Egamberdieva Dilfuza , Wirth Stephan , Behrendt Undine , Ahmad Parvaiz , Berg Gabriele 

TITLE=Antimicrobial Activity of Medicinal Plants Correlates with the Proportion of Antagonistic Endophytes

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00199

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.00199

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>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, <italic>Hypericum perforatum</italic> and <italic>Ziziphora capitata</italic> with 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 of <italic>H. perforatum</italic> exhibited a remarkable activity against bacterial and fungal pathogens, whereas extracts of <italic>Z. capitata</italic> did 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 with <italic>H. perforatum</italic> belong to eight genera (<italic>Arthrobacter, Achromobacter, Bacillus, Enterobacter, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, Pantoea, Serratia</italic>, and <italic>Stenotrophomonas</italic>). The endophytic isolates from <italic>Z. capitata</italic> also contain those genera except <italic>Arthrobacter</italic>, <italic>Serratia</italic>, and <italic>Stenotrophomonas</italic>. <italic>H. perforatum</italic> with antibacterial activity supported more bacteria with antagonistic activity, as compared to <italic>Z. capitata</italic>. The antagonistic isolates were able to control tomato root rot caused by <italic>Fusarium oxysporum</italic> and stimulated plant growth under greenhouse conditions and could thus be a cost-effective source for agro-based biological control agents.</p>