Antibacterial Activity of Bacterial Endophytes from Kupa Plant (Syzygium Polycephalum Miq. (Merr & Perry) Against Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

The World Health Organization confirms that infectious diseases are normally treated using synthetic antibiotics. The bacterial endophytes from the tropical plant Syzygium polycephalum, locally known as Kupa, can be used as an alternative solution to reduce the utilization of synthetic antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to obtain one of the most potent bacterial endophytes to be used as antibacterial agents. In the present study, descriptive analysis was conducted consisting of bacterial isolation by pour plate method, bacterial identification with Vitek 2 compact BIOMERIEUX and antibacterial test by Kirby-bauer method. A total of 9 isolates of bacterial endophytes have been successfully obtained. From these isolates, a total of 4 species of endophytic bacteria were identified: Bacillus sp. (1), Bacillus sp. (2), Bacillus pumilus and Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Our antibacterial tests revealed that Bacillus sp. (2) derived from the leaves appeared to be the most potent antibacterial isolates against pathogenic bacteria with 22 and 9 mm of inhibitory zone to Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and to Bacilluscereus, respectively. On the other hand, endophytic isolate Bacillus sp (1) derived from stem was able to inhibit Klebsiellapneumoniae and B. cereus with inhibitory zones as much as 10 and 7 mm, respectively. This result strongly indicated that the antibacterial effect of bacterial endophytes from this study was species-specific and indeed the bacterial endophytes in this study could serve as a potential source of novel natural antibiotics.