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.
Influence of metal nanoparticles synthesized by microorganisms upon soil-borne microscopic fungus Aspergillus terreus K-8 was studied. It was established that the metal nanoparticles synthesized by microorganisms affect the enzymatic activity of the studied culture. Silver nanoparticles lead to a decrease in cellulase activity and completely suppress the amylase activity of the fungus, while copper nanoparticles completely inhibit the activity of both the cellulase complex and amylase. The obtained results imply that the large-scale use of silver and copper nanoparticles may disrupt biological processes in the soil and cause change in the physiological and biochemical state of soil-borne microorganisms as well.
This study outlines the synthesis of substituted 1,2,4-triazole derivatives through the cyclization reaction of thiourea derivatives. The process begins with the reaction of different halides with KSCN to produce isothiocyanate derivatives. then followed by a reaction with isonicotinic acid hydrazide to yield thioureas (1-6), with a yield rate of (72-88%). Then, compounds (1-6) were treated with alkaline medium 4 N (NaOH) to produced 1,2,4-triazole derivatives (7-12) with a yield (51-69%).The structure of the prepared compounds was characterized using FTIR,1HNMR and 13CNMR spectroscopy. Some of the synthesized compounds were tested for antimicrobial activity when, compound 9 showed strong activity against gram positive bacteria (Sta
... Show MoreThe present study aims at knowing the reasons of the student of secondary school abstention from participation in the theatrical activity, and to know the reasons that resulted in this abstention. In addition to that, the study aims at knowing the differences according to variables (gender, scholastic stage, and major of study). The sample of the study was chosen from the secondary schools in Baghdad in the random manner from Al-Karakh and Al-Rusafa districts of (147) students. The questionnaire was used to collected data.
The result showed that all the items are intense, the item of (Students do not know how to use their leisure time) obtained the hi
... Show MoreThe present research was carried out to assess the toxic effect of oral administration of the aqueous extract of Nerium oleander leaves and flowers daily at doses of (25) mg/kg body weight for four weeks in mice. The toxicity of this plant parts was determined after two and four weeks by measuring the parameters of cytogenetic (mitotic index, micronucleus %), and serum levels of the hematological (RBC, Hb, WBC) and biochemical (GOT, GPT, ALT, AST) indexes in comparison with that of the control (normal saline), also clinical signs were determined. The results showed a significant decrease in mitotic index while an obvious raise was seen in micronucleus percentage in comparison with that of the control after the two periods of admini
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For criminal investigations, fingerprints remain the most reliable form of personal identification despite developments in other fields like DNA profiling. The objective of this work is to compare the performance of both commercial charcoal and activated carbon powder derived from the Alhagi plant to reveal latent fingerprints from different non-porous surfaces (cardboard, plain glass, aluminum foil sheet, China Dish, Plastic, and Switch). The effect of three variables on activated carbon production was investigated. These variables were the impregnation ratio (the weight ratio of KOH: dried raw material), the activation temperature, and the activation time. The effect factors were investigated using Central Composite Design
... Show MoreThe term of heterocyclic chemistry focuses only on heterocyclic compounds, which consider as a percentage of organic chemistry, they equal to greater than sixty-five. These compounds are widely founded in nature and most of them are important to life. In the past few years, scientist fused on 1,2,4-triazoles and their condensed heterocyclic ring due to their medicinal significance, 1,2,4-triazole containing Sulphur atom is one of the important heterocyclic moieties due to its broad range of biological activities also their derivatives can accommodate one of the alternatives as electronic effect as exchanges of the electronic density (electron donating or withdrawing) groups ; for all what mentioned above they are consider as a core
... Show MoreThe need to overcome the failure of orthodontic micro-implants which might reach to 30% has led to the development of different methods, one of which is nanoparticle deposition.
To evaluate the anti-microbial efficiency of TiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles (NP) when used as a coating for orthodontic micro-implants.
Thirty titanium alloy micro-implants were used in the presented study. They were divided into three