Abstract
Aim:The objective of this study was to isolate endophytic bacteria from Azadirachta indica (neem) leaves, their identification and investigate their antibacterial activity against three Gram-positive bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus cereus and Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella Typhimurium and Klebsiella pneumoniae.Materials and Methods:Fresh leaves of A. indica (neem) was procured from the Department of Botany, JNKVV, Jabalpur. Five samples were taken, and each sample was divided into five subsamples and separated for further isolation of endophytic bacteria. For sterilization leaves were treated with double distilled water, 0.1% sodium hypochlorite, 0.01% bavistin, 0.05% and 70% ethanol. Sterilized leaves of the plants were embedded in Kings B (KB) petri plates and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. Characterization of the bacteria was done according to its morphology and by Gram-staining. After that, a single colony was transferred into brain heart infusion (BHI) broth and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. The antibacterial effect was studied by the disk diffusion method with known antibiotic ciprofloxacin (Ci) as standard.Results:A total of 25 bacterial isolates from A. indica (neem) were obtained and identified morphologically. Most of the samples on KB media depicted irregular shape, flat elevation, undulated, rough, opaque, and white in color. Most of the samples on blood agar showed irregular, raise elevation, undulated, smooth, opaque and all the isolates were nonhemolytic and nonchromogenic. The growth of endophytic bacteria in BHI broth were all isolates showed turbidity. The microscopic examination revealed that maximum isolates were Gram-positive and rod shaped. Good antibacterial activity was observed against S. aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, E. coli, Salmonella Typhimurium, and K. pneumoniae.Conclusions:Endophytic bacteria are present in leaves of A. indica (neem) and it possesses antibacterial activity against few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
Highlights
An increase in the number of people in the world, having health problems leading to various types of cancers, drug-resistant bacteria, parasitic protozoans and fungal infection is a cause for alarm
Endophytic bacteria are present in leaves of A. indica and it possesses antibacterial activity against few Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
This study was conducted with a view to isolate and characterizes the endophytic bacterial diversity from A. indica. 25 bacterial isolates from A. indica were obtained and identified morphologically
Summary
An increase in the number of people in the world, having health problems leading to various types of cancers, drug-resistant bacteria, parasitic protozoans and fungal infection is a cause for alarm. An intensive search for newer and more effective agents to deal with these disease problems is underway and endophytes are a novel source of potentially useful medicinal compounds. Endophytes are microorganisms, including bacteria that live in the intercellular spaces of plant. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/ publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Many studies have emphasized endophytes from medicinal plants and their application in different areas [2]. Many known, as well as new endophytic bioactive metabolites, possessing a wide variety of biological activities as antibiotic, antiviral, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, etc., have been identified [3]
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