Paronychia argentea is a wild medicinal herbaceous herb that contains many secondary metabolites. It grows wild in Jordan under harsh high salinity soil conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of salinity stress on growth, biochemical responses, and ion uptake of in vitro Paronychia argentea micro plants. Our results revealed a clear reduction in all growth parameters in response to an increase in salinity level used (0, 25, 50, 100, 200 mM). When the growth medium was supplemented with 200 mM NaCl; the fresh and dry weights were reduced by 40% compared with the control treatment. Moreover, micro plant uptake of phosphorus calcium and potassium ions decreased with increasing salinity levels. The Mg++ content was increased by 10% at the 25 mM level of NaCl compared with control, while it declined by 20% at 200 mM of NaCl. On the other hand, Na+ uptake increased with increasing salinity levels and reached a maximum value of (18328 ppm/D. W) at 200 mM NaCl. Moreover, proline content increased in response to salinity level to record maximum value (80.8 µmole/g) at 200 mM NaCl compared to (30.4 µmol/g) obtained in the control. Quercetins content in P. argentea micro plants was increased by 1.7-fold in concentration in response to salinity at 50 mM of NaCl, while an about 7-fold increase in the concentration of isorhamnetin content was obtained due to salinity at 100 mM.

Paronchia argentea is traditionally being used for medicinal purposes in Jordan. The current investigation was designed to check the in vitro efficacy of in vitro and ex vitro P. argentea against selected bacterial and fungal strains. The antimicrobial properties of in vitro plantlets and field (ex vitro) plant extracts of P. argentea were investigated against both bacteria and fungi, after and before heavy metals stress used. In this study, four bacterial species were used: Listeria monocytogen and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram positive bacteria) Salmonella typhimurum and Coronobacter sakazakii (Gram negative bacteria) and Calvularia lunata as a mold. The obtained results revealed that the in vitro grown plantlets with the supplemented of lead (Pb), copper (Cu) or Cobalt (Co) with methanol and aqueous extract showed significant inhibitory activities within zones of inhibition ranging between 6.7-30.0 mm. All extracts of P. argentea had activity against the fungi and bacteria tested. The maximum inhibition zone was found in Staphylococcus aureus (30 mm inhibition zone) in medium supplemented with 0.3 mg/L Cu followed by Calvularia lunata (30.0 mm inhibition zone). The methanolic and aqueous P. argentea extract indicate that the solvent plays an important role in the solubility of the antimicrobial substance and also affects the activity of the microbe. Both field (ex vitro) and tissue culture plant extract showed similar antimicrobial activity. The present study could be used as an approach for the development of new, alternative and cheap antimicrobial drugs, particularly against the infections caused by the tested microbes through the tissue culture technology.

Ochradenus baccatus Delile is a wild medicinal plant that produces several natural compounds with medicinal benefits. In this study, microshoots of Ochradenus baccatus were exposed to osmotic stress conditions consisting of Murashige and Skoog solid media (MS) media that containing different osmotic agents (sugar types) at a range of concentrations (including 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 or 0.4 M). The purpose was to test their effects on microshoots’ growth and antimicrobial activities against selected strains of bacteria and one strain of fungi. It has been found that growth parameters (including shoot length and proliferation) of Ochradenus baccatus microshoots declined with increasing sugar concentration in the media, but at the highest concentrations of 0.4M mannitol, the micorshoots could not survive.  Generally, aqueous extracts of the stressed microshoots were more effective against the tested microbial strains than the methanolic extracts in most experiments. Staphylococcus aureus was found to be the most affected microbe to both extract types. Also, exposing the microshoots to osmotic stress had improved antimicrobial powers in both extracts types. Aqueous extract of microshoots that pre-grew in media with (0.4 M sucrose) was interestingly found to inhibit growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of (0.195, 0.78 mg/ml). These values were similar to those obtained from the antibiotic treatments. Other biotechnological techniques like genetic transformation are suggested to be also used for production of elite strains of Ochradenus baccatus with super antimicrobial potential.

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