By Sridevi Dhanarani, Shankar Congeevaram, Prakash Piruthiviraj, Joon Hong Park, Thamaraiselvi Kaliannan Antibiotic resistant bacteria (ABR) is an alarming issue and it has to be eliminated before enter into the environment. The role of efflux pump inhibitor, reserpine – a plant alkaloid in reducing the antibiotic resistance in Staphylococcus sp., Streptococcus sp. and Micrococcus sp. from poultry litter were evaluated. Reserpine increased the activity of antibiotics against bacteria and directly blocks the antibiotic efflux pump. Resistances of bacteria to antibiotics were reduced when they were grown in the presence of reserpine. Furthermore, this compound effectively reduced the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of several antibiotics such as ampicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, streptomycin, kanamycin, rifampicin and tobramycin, suggesting that reserpine are representatives of bacterial efflux inhibitors with the potential application in combination therapy for veterinary medicines. This defensive action will helps us to reduce the existence of ABR in poultry industry as well as in the environment.

Source:: http://www.pubs.iscience.in/journal/index.php/cbl/article/view/540

By Prabodh Chander Sharma, Seema Padwal, Anil Saini, Kushal Bansal A new series of N-(6-methoxybenzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-2-substituted phenyl-1H-benz[d]imidazole-1-carbothioamide derivatives (5a-5h) has been synthesized and evaluated for antibacterial, antifungal and antimalarial effects. All these compounds were characterized and screened for their in vitro antimicrobial activity against selected bacterial and fungal strains. Titled compounds were also evaluated for their antimalarial activity against P. falciparum. Antimicrobial activity screening results showed that some compounds namely 5b against P. aeruginosa, 5c against S. aureus and E. coli, 5d against E. coli and P. aeruginosa and 5g against E. coli from the series have emerged as prospective antibacterial leads endowed with excellent activity (MIC 12.5-62.5 μg/ml). While only one fungal strain C. albicans was susceptible towards synthesized compounds. On the other hand, compounds 5c and 5h exhibited noteworthy antimalarial activity with IC₅₀ values of 0.18 & 0.11 μg/ml as compared to standard drugs chloroquine (IC₅₀ 0.020 μg/ml) and quinine (IC₅₀ 0.268 μg/ml).

Source:: http://www.pubs.iscience.in/journal/index.php/cbl/article/view/575

By Ishwar Singh Plants produce an enormous number of phytochemicals as a part of their primary as well as secondary metabolism of those many could be of therapeutic value especially antimicrobial application to human beings. Majority of the isolated antimicrobials pertain to chemical groups namely, phenolics, terpenes, alkaloids and polypeptides, and exhibit multiple mechanisms of action against disease causing microorganisms. The target site varies amongst different antimicrobials ranging from molecular level to organism level of organization. During their antimicrobial action at molecular level these phytochemicals interact covalently and non-covalently with macromolecules and render them non-functional. At cellular level antimicrobials disrupt the functioning of various cell components such as capsule, cell wall, cell membrane and mitochondria leading to the death of pathogens. Various antimicrobial activities like antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal activities of different plants and their isolated chemicals have also been discussed.

Source:: http://www.pubs.iscience.in/journal/index.php/cbl/article/view/509