Antibiotic resistance is the major growing threat facing the pharmacological treatment of bacterial infections. Therefore, bioprospecting the medicinal plants could provide potential sources for antimicrobial agents. Mimusops, the biggest and widely distributed plant genus of family Sapotaceae, is used in traditional medicines due to its promising pharmacological activities. This study was conducted to elucidate the antimicrobial effect of three unexplored Mimusops spp. (M. kummel, M. laurifolia and M. zeyheri). Furthermore, the mechanisms underlying such antibacterial activity were studied. The Mimusops leaf extracts revealed significant antibacterial activities against the five tested bacterial strains with a maximum inhibition zone diameter of 22.0 mm against B. subtilis compared with standard antibiotic ciprofloxacin. The minimal inhibitory and bactericidal concentration values against tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial strains ranged from 3.15-12.5 µg/ml. However, weak antifungal effect was recorded against Candida albicans with MIC value ˃25 µg/ml. The 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that M. caffra was the best antioxidant (IC50=14.75±0.028 µg/ml), while M. laurifolia was the least one (IC50=34.22±0.014 µg/ml). The phenolics in plant leaves extracts were identified and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) which revealed the presence of seven phenolic acids and four flavonoids. The abundant phenolic compounds were rutin (5.216±0.067 mg/g dried wt.) and gallic acid (0.296±0.068 mg/g) followed by myricetin (0.317±0.091 mg/g) then kaempferol (0.113±0.049 mg/g) as flavonoids. The antibacterial mechanism of M. laurifolia extract, as a representative species, induces ultrastructural changes in the model bacterium Staphylococcus aureus with cell wall and plasma membrane lysis as revealed by transmission electron microscopy. Overall, Mimusops species (M. laurifolia, M. kummel and M. zeyheri) are promising natural alternative sources for antimicrobial agents.
The infrastructure is one of the basic components of the tourism industry in Iraq in general and in Najaf in particular, in spite of there are obstacles and problems that which are hindered the development of tourism in Iraq, some of them are related to the tourism industry itself, some are related to the security and political situation, and some are related to poor management of tourism. However, the infrastructure is considered the cornerstone of the success of the tourism industry in Iraq and other countries, if it is available, it can be a potential indicator of success, and on the contrary, it is a hindrance to go forward. The aim of this research is to shed light on the availability of requirements for the s
... Show MoreAntibiotics resistant bacteria have become a global problem as a result of the unprogrammed use of antibiotics, resulting in bacterial strains resistant to many antibiotics, or to all available antibiotics. Plants are a good source of primary and secondary metabolites that have a major role in reducing silver nitrate to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). The production of these nanoparticles were carried out by using aqueous extract of Carthamus oxycantha M.Bieb. This can be verified by color change of the reaction solution from yellow to dark brown because of the excitation of the surface plasmon resonance. AgNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy, where they recorded the peak at 420 nm. Fourier Transformation-infrared (FTIR)
... Show MoreMicrobial activity of Ellagic acid when mixed with some types of candy toward Streptococcus mutans microorganism was studied. The main purpose of carrying out this study is to produce a new type of candy that contains Ellagic acid in addition to xylitol instead of sucrose to prevent dental caries. The results show that the inhibitory action of Ellagic acid was more effective when mixed with this type of candy for the purpose of reducing Streptococcus mutans microorganisms, while sensory evaluation was applied in this study to 20 volunteers to that candy sample evaluated which contain (5 mg/ml) Ellagic acid with 100g xylitol to determine consumers acceptability of this sample of candy. The results were expressed as mean value, slandered d
... Show MoreAim: The aim of this study was to investigate babesiosis in dogs of different breeds and ages and of both sexes in Baghdad Province by molecular detection of Babesia canis using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and sequencing followed by phylogenetic analyses. Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 310 dogs of different ages and breeds, and of both sexes in different areas of Baghdad Province from December 2018 to September 2019; during clinical examinations, body temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and signs of diseases were recorded. PCR was used to amplify a specific 450-bp fragment of the 18S rRNA gene of B. canis. PCR products were sequenced, and MEGA 6.0 software was used for analysis. Chi-squar
... Show MoreIsatin (1H-indole-2, 3-dione) and its analogs are an important class of heterocyclic compounds. N-benzyl isatins and Schiff bases of isatin analogs have been reported to demonstrate a variety of biological activities. This work illustrates the synthesis of new N-benzylisatin Schiff bases and studies their biological activity. Firstly, Isatin and its analogs; 5-methoxyisatin, 5-fluoroisatin reacted with benzyl iodide to obtain N-benzylated derivatives of isatins 2 (ac). Secondly, these compounds were reacted with different amines (sulphanilamide and 4-methyl sulphonyl aniline) separately, to obtain Schiff bases compounds 3 (ac) and 4 (ac), respectively. The synthesized compounds were characterized by using FT-IR and 1HNMR spectroscopy. The s
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was the discrimination of Salmonella isolated from chicken and their feed and drinking water for the epidemiological control of salmonellosis. Totally, 289 samples, including 217 chicken cloaca swabs, 46 water, and 26 feed samples were collected from five different farms in Karbala governorate, Iraq. Conventional bacteriology tests, API 20E, Vitek 2, and serology were used for bacterial identification. Random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to analyze the genetic relationships among Salmonella isolates. The isolation rate of Salmonella spp. was 21.1% (61/289). While the water samples constituted the highest rate (30.4%), a rate of
... Show MoreThe current study was conducted for studying the impact of cold plasma on the expression level of three genes that participate in the biosynthesis of the phenylpropanoid pathway in Ocimum basilicum. These studied genes were cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (c4h), 4-coumarate CoA ligase (4cl), and eugenol O-methyl transferase (eomt). Also, the cold plasma impact was studied on the essential oil components and their relation with the gene expression level. The results demonstrated that cold plasma seeds germination of the treated groups 2 (initially for 3 minutes and 3 minutes after 7 days) ,and group 3(initially for 5 minutes and 3 minutes after 7 days) were faster than the control group. Also, the height average of the mature plants of
... Show MoreObjective: Loranthus europaeus is a parasitic plant that lives on the branches of trees. The present study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effects of two different extracts on chronic inflammation induced by cotton pellets in rats. Methods: Loranthus seed was extracted by maceration with absolute methanol, in which dry Loranthus seeds were triturated in a mortar and macerated with 500 mL of methanol. After 24 h, the mixture was filtered, and the residue was re-extracted. The filtrates were combined and dried under vacuum. The mixture was mixed with 100 mL of distilled water and fractionated by petroleum ether and ethyl acetate using 70 mL × 3 times each. The organic fractions were dried, filtered, and evaporated to dryness.
... Show MoreWith the aim of developing potential antimicrobials, a series of new 5-fluoroisatin derivatives incorporated with different secondary amines (piperidine, morpholine, pyrrolidine, dimethylamine, and diphenylamine) for monomer, and (piperazine) in case of dimer Mannich bases, separately in presence of formaldehyde to obtain Mannich bases of 5-fluoroisatin derivatives, which then each Mannich derivatives reacts with phenylhydrazine to form Schiff bases as final products. The resulting compounds were characterized by two spectroscopic analyses; (Fourier- transform infrared) FT-IR and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR). In addition, the in vitro antibacterial and antifungal activities were tested against some human pathogen
... Show More