In vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of bark extracts of Bauhinia purpurea

Bark extracts of Bauhinia purpurea were phytochemically analyzed and evaluated for antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. The phytochemical analysis of the bark extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, triterpenes and carbohydrates. While most of them were present in methanolic and aqueous extracts, one or a few of them were present in other solvent extracts. Among different solvent extracts, aqueous extract exhibited a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. It showed strong antibacterial activity against Gram positive bacterial strains like Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Gram negative strains like Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia and antifungal activity against Candida albicans. While methanolic extract showed moderate to strong antibacterial activity against B. subtilis, E. coli and K. pneumonia, the extracts of hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate did not show any anti bacterial or antifungal activity against the tested fungal and bacterial strains. Antioxidant activity of the bark extracts were evaluated in terms of inhibition of free radicals by 2, 2’-diphenly-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). Aqueous extract followed by methanolic extract exhibited strong to moderate antioxidant activity. The antioxidant property and antimicrobial activity of the extracts of B. purpurea against the tested microbial strains therefore, supports that there is scientific basis for their utilization in traditional medicine for wound healing and also in treatment of some infectious diseases.Key words: Bauhinia purpurea, phytochemical analysis, antimicrobial activity, antioxidant property

Development of co-dominant SCAR markers linked to resistant gene against the Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici

PubMed ID: 26037087Key message: We developed highly reliable co-dominant SCAR markers linked to the Frl gene. FORL testing is difficult. The marker is expected to be quickly adapted for MAS by tomato breeders. Abstract: Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis-lycopersici causes Fusarium crown and root rot (FCR), an economically important soil-borne disease of tomato. The resistance against FCR is conferred by a single dominant gene (Frl) located on chromosome 9. The aim of this study was to develop molecular markers linked to the Frl gene for use in marker-assisted breeding (MAS) programs. The FCR-resistant ‘Fla. 7781’ and susceptible ‘B560’ lines were crossed, and F1 was both selfed and backcrossed to ‘B560’ to generate segregating F2 and BC1 populations. The two conserved set II (COSII) markers were found linked to the Frl gene, one co-segregated with FCR resistance in both F2 and BC1 populations and the other was 8.5 cM away. Both COSII markers were converted into co-dominant SCAR markers. SCARFrl marker produced a 950 and a 1000 bp fragments for resistant and susceptible alleles, respectively. The linkage of SCARFrl marker was confirmed in BC2F3 populations developed by backcrossing the resistant ‘Fla. 7781’ to five different susceptible lines. The SCARFrl marker has been in use in the tomato breeding programs in BATEM, Antalya, Turkey, since 2012 and has proved highly reliable. The SCARFrl marker is expected to aid in the development of FCR-resistant lines via marker-assisted selection (MAS). © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg