Speakers - 2025

Abstract

Numerous phytochemicals found in plants have remarkable antibacterial and antioxidant properties that can effectively combat diseases in humans, animals, and plants. The initial stages towards assessing the potential use of these new chemicals in agriculture and medicine involve their identification and characterisation from plant species. Since chemical pesticides have been shown to have lasting negative effects, plant-based products acting as antimicrobial agents could play a crucial role in an integrated disease management (IDM) strategy. The current work aimed to characterise the antibacterial and antioxidant capabilities of a crude extract of the invasive plant Lantana camara L. The antioxidant, antibacterial, polyphenolic, and enzymatic properties of both the leaf extract (LE) and the flower extract (FE) were assessed. Both LE and FE demonstrated superior antioxidant and free radical activities; however, FE's activities were higher than LE's. Furthermore, FTIR and GC-MS analyses were conducted for both FE and LE in order to reveal the chemical characteristics of the extracts. The existence of multiple functional groups, including N-H, C-H, OH, and C=O, was confirmed by FT-IR spectrum analysis. The presence of these functional groups in extracts suggests the existence of different metabolites in the extracts. Altogether, 99 bioactive chemicals were found by GC-MS analysis, of which at least 19 were found to have phrenologically significant properties, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-androgenic, anti-tumour, and antibacterial properties. Additionally, the antimicrobial qualities of both extracts were evaluated against agriculturally significant pathogen such as Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. glycines (Xag), Magnaporthe oryzae (M. oryzae), and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), and these tests revealed the antimicrobial capabilities of the extracts. The Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK1) of M. oryzae, Peptide deformylase (PDF) of Xoo, and sucrose hydrolase (SUH) of Xag like enzymes could be preferentially targeted by certain compounds, such as Loliolide, Salicylic Acid Methyl Ester, Eicosapentaenoic acid, and Phytol, according to a molecular docking study. This could limit the growth of the aforementioned pathogens. Therefore, we think that L. camara could be the part of IDM in order to reduce phytopathogens after extensive examination.