Abstract
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are known to provide plant species with several benefits, such as an increased production of bioactive compounds. However, it is yet to be defined whether extracts of mycorrhizal plants are more efficient in vitro antibacterial actions when compared to non-mycorrhizal plants. We tested the hypothesis of whether or not, methanolic extracts of Libidibia ferrea fruits, from plants established in the field and inoculated with AMF, have higher antibacterial action when inoculated with Acaulospora longula, Claroideoglomus etunicatum or Gigaspora albida. In addition, native L. ferrea fruits collected from the Caatinga area were also tested. The extracts of L. ferrea fruits inoculated with A. longula had higher in vitro antibacterial action in relation to the extracts of fruits from non-inoculated plants (p <0.05) thus characterizing the first record of different antibacterial actions of plant extracts due to inoculation with AMF. The extracts of L. ferrea fruits inoculated with A. longula were more efficient in inhibiting growth of Gram-negative bacteria. The zone diameters of inhibition ranged from 2.48 % to 7.56 % larger than the zones of the non-inoculated L. ferrea fruit extracts. The inoculation of L. ferrea with AMF may represent an alternative way of producing fruits with different antibacterial activity.
Highlights
As documented in many studies, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are microorganisms that provide plant species with several benefits (Wu et al, 2016; Amiri, Nikbakht, Rahimmalek, & Hosseini, 2017; Tavarini et al, 2018)
The methanolic extracts of L. ferrea fruits inoculated with A. longula had higher in vitro antibacterial activity when compared to those from non-inoculated plants
The zones of inhibition produced by methanolic extracts of L. ferrea fruits inoculated with A. longula, regarding to the strains E. coli (ATCC® 25922), E. coli (ATCC® 35218), S. aureus (ATCC® 25923), and S. aureus (ATCC® 33591) were 7.56 %, 5.22 %, 2.74 %, and 2.48 % greater, respectively, than the zones produced by methanolic extract from control (Table 2)
Summary
As documented in many studies, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are microorganisms that provide plant species with several benefits (Wu et al, 2016; Amiri, Nikbakht, Rahimmalek, & Hosseini, 2017; Tavarini et al, 2018). Some studies reported that the use of AMF inoculation in plants of medicinal interest enhances the production of bioactive compounds (Oliveira, Alves, Silva, & Silva, 2015; Amiri et al, 2017). This may provide the species with medicinal properties, such as antioxidant (Giovannetti et al, 2012), antitumor (Nakamura et al, 2002), and antimicrobial activities (Silva et al, 2013b). These studies revealed extracts of mycorrhizal plants with a higher concentration of phenols, tannins, flavonoids and other biomolecules (Pedone-Bonfim et al, 2013; Silva et al, 2014a, 2014b; Lima, Campos, & Silva, 2015; Santos, Silva, & Silva, 2017; Silva and Silva, 2017)
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