Level of Education of Students Involved

Undergraduate

Faculty Sponsor

Dr. Orozco-Nunnelly

College

Arts and Sciences

Discipline(s)

Botany, Microbiology

ORCID Identifier(s)

0009-0006-8220-4083, 0000-0003-3381-0504

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

Symposium Date

Spring 4-25-2024

Abstract

According to the W.H.O., infectious diseases account for three of the top ten global causes of death. Antimicrobial drug discovery surged in the mid-twentieth century but has sharply declined in recent years. At the same time, antimicrobial-resistant “superbug” infections are on the rise. Plants produce a robust supply of novel metabolic compounds, including many antimicrobial agents. However, with the advent of modern antibiotic drugs, natural plant-derived antibiotic sources have largely been left unexplored. Therefore, our work is focused on screening poorly explored medicinal plants in the hopes of discovering novel antimicrobial drugs. To do this, we have been testing extracts of plants found in the Valpo medicinal garden for their effects against twelve microorganisms of interest. To date, methanolic and hexane extracts of aerial, reproductive, and root portions of twelve plants have been screened, with five plants showing especially promising activities. Both raspberry leaf and yarrow flower methanol extracts were seen to inhibit growth of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, with little activity against the fungal organisms tested. Chokeberry leaf methanol extracts had similar trends, but with less activity overall. Additionally, both lavender and raspberry root methanol extracts demonstrated broad spectrum antimicrobial activity, while yarrow, chokeberry, and calendula root methanol extracts showed similar trends, but with less overall activity. We have begun separating several promising extracts using column chromatography techniques to determine the specific antimicrobial compounds via analytical chemistry techniques. These data highlight the importance of plants as an invaluable pharmaceutical resource at a time when antimicrobial drug discovery has plateaued.

Biographical Information about Author(s)

We are a group of undergraduate biology students working in the lab of Dr. Orozco-Nunnelly. Our research focuses on testing plant extracts against various bacteria and fungi of interest to identify novel antimicrobial compounds. The research process involves macerating plant material, incubating it with a solvent (usually hexane or methanol), purifying the extract, and testing it using an antimicrobial disc diffusion assay against over a dozen unique prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell lines. Our lab partners with Dr. Pruet's organic chemistry lab to help analyze and identify the bioactive compounds within the plant extracts.

Download

Share

COinS