Isolation and characterization of natural antimicrobials from plant and marine organisms.

摘要

Antibiotic agents have been found to have a limited lifespan due to the ability of microrganisms to develop antimicrobial resistance. In this study a number extracts of plant and marine organisms were evaluated for their antimicrobial activity against a number of high priority pathogens. Bioassay-guided fractionation of four extracts led to the identification of compounds with inhibitory activity; including one previously unknown compound. Compounds were evaluated through a variety of techniques including broth microdilution assay to determine each compound's MIC and MBC. The majority of the compounds showed antimicrobial activity equal to, if not better than, the commonly used antimicrobial drugs. The ability of compounds to withstand environmental stress and storage were explored with only one compound showing significant instability. Finally MTS assay showed that cell proliferation was decreased when mouse embryonic fibroblast cells, NIH 3T3 were treated with the compounds, proving they are cytotoxic to varying degrees.