Antimicrobial activities of some bryophytes in Turkey

Abstract

Bryophytes spreading throughout the world in all geographical and climatic conditions are one of the most important parts of the ecosystem. Some species of bryophytes are used in traditional medicine thanks to their strong antimicrobial and biological effects. Bryophytes contain many phenolic compounds being natural antioxidants, in addition it has been used for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular and oncological diseases. Thus the Bryophytes allow us new opportunities to discover new antimicrobial agents as well as anticarcinogenic. In this study, antimicrobial activities of three moss species [Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus (Hedw.) Warnst., Eurhynchium striatum W. P. Schimper, Pterigynandrum filiforme Hedw.] which distributes in Western Black Sea Region were investigated by using four different solvent and Kirby Bauer disc diffusion technique. The effects of extracts from bryophytes on strains of Escherichia coli T. Escherich ATCC-8739, Staphylococcus aureus Rosenbach ATCC-6538, Bacillus subtilis Ehrenberg ATCC-14028, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Schroeter) Migula ATCC-9027 were investigated. It is observed that the strain of Bacillus subtilis ATCC-14028 was sensitive to the extracts. However, it wasn't detected any effect on Escherichia coli strain ATCC-8739 and it was determined that this strain was the most resistant strain against the extracts. The biggest inhibition zone was yielded with methanol in E. striatum against S. aureus. The inhibition zone of P. aeruginosa was obtained only with extracts prepared from R. triquetrus and P. filiforme.