Assessment of Biological Activity for Crude Extracts and Isolated Compounds from Plants
Document Type
Oral Presentation
Campus where you would like to present
SURC Ballroom A
Start Date
17-5-2012
End Date
17-5-2012
Abstract
Identification of new compounds extracted from plant species that have never before been researched has potential for finding new and better drugs to treat illness. By examining the effects of crude plant extracts on Staphylococcus aureus, a fast-growing, ubiquitous, gram-positive bacterium, biologically active extracts can be identified. Further separation of these by column chromatography may yield pure compounds with antibacterial activity. Most plant species produce at least moderately active antimicrobial compounds as part of their specific and non-specific defense systems. It is possible that some of these defenses hold the keys to treating or curing human diseases caused by bacteria. It is of interest to determine if crude plant extracts and pure compounds have antimicrobial activity or, alternatively, can potentiate the activity of known antibiotics. To explore this, a disk-diffusion based research method is employed to facilitate comparison between effects of the test materials on the growth of S. aureus. Small changes can be made for this method to work with other species based on normal growth rate of the organism used, and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the antibiotic drugs needed for each organism used in different assays. The research model involves swabbing ‘lawns’ of bacteria on plates of tryptic soy agar (TSA), and adding sterile disks infused with varying concentrations of known antibiotics, crude extracts, or isolated pure compounds. Zones of inhibition around the disks can then be measured and compared. This model can be used with a variety of organisms, depending on the interests of the researcher.
Recommended Citation
Diamond, Jane, "Assessment of Biological Activity for Crude Extracts and Isolated Compounds from Plants" (2012). Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE). 28.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2012/posters/28
Poster Number
5
Additional Mentoring Department
Biological Sciences
Additional Mentoring Department
Chemistry
Assessment of Biological Activity for Crude Extracts and Isolated Compounds from Plants
SURC Ballroom A
Identification of new compounds extracted from plant species that have never before been researched has potential for finding new and better drugs to treat illness. By examining the effects of crude plant extracts on Staphylococcus aureus, a fast-growing, ubiquitous, gram-positive bacterium, biologically active extracts can be identified. Further separation of these by column chromatography may yield pure compounds with antibacterial activity. Most plant species produce at least moderately active antimicrobial compounds as part of their specific and non-specific defense systems. It is possible that some of these defenses hold the keys to treating or curing human diseases caused by bacteria. It is of interest to determine if crude plant extracts and pure compounds have antimicrobial activity or, alternatively, can potentiate the activity of known antibiotics. To explore this, a disk-diffusion based research method is employed to facilitate comparison between effects of the test materials on the growth of S. aureus. Small changes can be made for this method to work with other species based on normal growth rate of the organism used, and minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of the antibiotic drugs needed for each organism used in different assays. The research model involves swabbing ‘lawns’ of bacteria on plates of tryptic soy agar (TSA), and adding sterile disks infused with varying concentrations of known antibiotics, crude extracts, or isolated pure compounds. Zones of inhibition around the disks can then be measured and compared. This model can be used with a variety of organisms, depending on the interests of the researcher.
Faculty Mentor(s)
Eric Foss, Gil Belofsky