Biologically active natural compounds are molecules produced by plants or plant-related microbes, such as endophytes. Many of these metabolites have a wide range of antimicrobial activities and other pharmaceutical properties. This study aimed to evaluate (in vitro) the antifungal activities of the secondary metabolites obtained from Paecilomyces sp. against the pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani. The endophytic fungus Paecilomyces was isolated from Moringa oleifera leaves and cultured on potato dextrose broth for the production of the fungal metabolites. The activity of Paecilomyces filtrate against the radial growth of Rhizoctonia solani was tested by mixing the filtrate with potato dextrose agar medium at concentrations of 15%, 30%, 45%, and 60%, for which the percentages of inhibition of the radial growth were 37.5, 50, 52.5, and 56.25%, respectively. The dual culture method was conducted on PDA medium to observe the antagonistic nature of the antibiotic impacts of Paecilomyces sp. towards the pathogenic fungus. The strength of the antagonistic impacts was manifested by a 76.25% inhibition rate, on a scale of 4 antagonistic levels. Ethyl acetate extract of Paecilomyces sp. was obtained by liquid-liquid partition of the broth containing the fungus. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis identified the presence of important chemical components e.g., (E) 9, cis-13-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (48.607), 1-Heptacosanol, 1-Nonadecene, Cyclotetracosane (5.979), 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, butyl 2-methylpropyl ester, di-sec-butyl phthalate (3.829), 1-Nonadecene, n-Nonadecanol-1, Behenic alcohol (3.298), n-Heptadecanol-1, 1-hexadecanol, n-Pentadecanol (2.962), Dodecanoic acid (2.849), 2,3-Dihydroxypropyl ester, oleic acid, 9-Octadecenal, and (Z)-(2.730). These results suggest that secondary metabolites of the endophytic Paecilomyces possess antifungal properties and could potentially be utilized in various applications, such as environmental protection and medicine.
Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected disease in tropical countries, including Iraq. Several studies have sought to examine chemotherapies for leishmaniasis treatment but most of them are of toxic and/or undesirable side effect, therefore, the need for investigating new fewer toxic therapies is essential. Aim of study: In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Artemisinin (ART), a novel herbal compound, was screened against the two forms, promastigotes and amastigotes, of the Iraqi isolate of Leishmania tropica, the causative agent of Baghdad boil. Material and methods: Different concentrations (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6 and 7.8) µM of Artemisinin were screened to investigate the leishmanic
... Show MoreBackground: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a neglected disease in tropical countries, including Iraq. Several studies have sought to examine chemotherapies for leishmaniasis treatment but most of them are of toxic and/or undesirable side effect, therefore, the need for investigating new fewer toxic therapies is essential. Aim of study: In this study, the cytotoxic effect of Artemisinin (ART), a novel herbal compound, was screened against the two forms, promastigotes and amastigotes, of the Iraqi isolate of Leishmania tropica, the causative agent of Baghdad boil. Material and methods: Different concentrations (1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6 and 7.8) µM of Artemisinin were screened to investigate the leishmanicidal activity of th
... Show MoreEleven yoghurt samples were collected from local markets in Baghdad to isolate Lactobacillus buchneri. Only 3 isolates of L. buchneri were found and the isolate No. 3 was the most producer of bacteriocin. Bacteriocin was adsorbed 100% onto silicic acid at pH 6.0-7.0. Below or above these pH values, adsorption was decreased, ranging between 35 and 90%. Therefore, pH 6.0 was used for the purification procedure. The purification procedure including silicic acid adsorption/desorption and cation-exchange chromatography (CEC) resulted in a 11.11 fold increase in the final specific activity of pure bacteriocin (1176.47 Au/mg) compared to the culture supernatant which was 32.64 Au/mg. The molecular weight was determined to be about 3.4 kDa. The bac
... Show MoreIn order to screen antifungal activity of lactobacilli that produce bacteriocin against the yeast Candida, ninety-two food and clinical samples were collected. Also, several commercial brands of Lactobacillus probiotics and ready-made isolates of Lactobacillus were used. The isolated lactobacilli were subjected to microscopic, macroscopic, and biochemical tests. Moreover, molecular identification was performed for the best producer isolate. For Candida spp. isolation, seventy- two samples were collected from different clinical sources; in addition, nine of ready-made isolates were also used. All the isolated Candida spp. were subjected to microscopic and macroscopic ex
... Show MoreRosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) is one of the most economically important species of the family Lamiaceae. Rosemary extract was examined by applying 2.2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assays. The result proved that rosemary extract had a higher antioxidant activity by absorption at a wavelength of 517a nm by using three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0 and 3) mg/ml which performed the absorbance at (2. 314, 0. 211 and 0.296) nm in comparison with control (21.8, 92.2 and 90) nm respectively. Results obtained using chemical detection of the phytochemicals indicated the presence of flavonoids, phenols, saponins, Steroids and cardiac in rosemary water extract. Water extracts of R. officinalis leaves were inves
... Show MoreEighty five samples were taken from patients suffering from pneumonia. Seventy-eight isolates were diagnosed as following: Staphylococcus aureus (23), klebsiella pneumoniae (29), Streptococcus pneumoniae (15), Serratia sp. (4), Haemophilus influenzae (4) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (3). The clinical isolates were tested for antibiotics sensitivity. They appeared highly resistance to penicillin G and Ampicillin at percentage 89.7 and 84.6% respectly while the results showed highly sensitivity to streptomycin at percentege of (12.8%). To study the antibacterial activity of Alium sativum, Eucalyptus microtheca leaves and Cydonia oblonga seeds extracts, five multi resistant strains were used by using agar well diffusion and disk methods at c
... Show MoreThe nanocrystalline porous silicon (PS) films are prepared by electrochemical etching ECE of p -type silicon wafer with current density (10mA/cm ) and etching times on the formation nano -sized pore array with a dimension of around different etching time (10 and 20) min. The films were characterized by the measurement of XRD, atomic force microscopy properties (AFM). We have estimated crystallites size from X -Ray diffraction about nanoscale for PS and AFM confirms the nanometric size Chemical fictionalization during the electrochemical etching show on the surface chemical composition of PS. The atomic force microscopy investigation shows the rough silicon surface, with increasing etching process (current density and etching time) porous st
... Show MoreBackground: Aphaeresis is a term that means to separate or to take away. The basic idea of aphaeresis is efficient removal of a circulating cellular blood component, either cells (Cytopheresis) or plasma solute (plasmapheresis, plasma exchange).Thus, the treatment goal of aphaeresis is to remove the circulating cell or substance directly responsible for the disease process. Acceleration and development of aphaeresis applications had taken place with the arrival of automated cell separators in 1970s that ensure selectively removal of one or more of blood components from the blood and return the remainder to the individual. Plasmapheresis is separation of plasma from blood cells which are returned to the body.
... Show MoreFifty isolates of Bacillus sp. were subjected to the first and second screening to detect the ability to produce laccase enzyme and select the highest ones production of laccase on Petri plates containing nutrient agar supplemented with Cu2+.
Syringaldazine was used as an indicator and substrate for the determination of laccase activity. Three isolates, which consumed less time to developed pink color were tested for the production of laccase quantitatively. The effective isolate B16 with significant amounts of laccase 1.84 unit /ml was selected for laccase study.
The optimization studies revealed that the maximum laccase production was achieved when the production medium was at the following conditions: 5 days of incubation, tempe