Abstract

Antibiotics are becoming less effective as drug resistance spreads throughout the world, making it ever more difficult to treat the disease. The effect of biotic stress on antimicrobial activity of Lawsonia inermis L. (Henna) was studied as an alternate to antimicrobial agents against multidrug resistant microorganisms. The study was carried out in Molecular Biochemistry Lab, Department of Biochemistry, University of Agriculture Faisalabad. The plant seedlings were given biotic stress with Fusarium solani. The induced extracts were harvested at different time intervals and the antimicrobial activity was investigated by disc diffusion method. The induced plant extracts revealed highest susceptibility against S. aureus (30+-0.02) and Pasteurella multocida (30+-0.01) at 12 hpi. The least activity was shown against all the strains at 0 hpi. The highest antifungal activity was found against Ganoderma lucidum (55+-0.05) at 24 hpi. The results demonstrated a significant difference in the antimicrobial activities of all the strains with and without fungal stress (P<0.05). The fungal induced extracts of Lawsonia inermis L (Henna) with enhanced antimicrobial activity may have the potential of being alternative and cost- effective agents against antimicrobial resistance.

Keywords: Antimicrobial; In-vitro; Lawsonia inermis; Drug resistance; Antibiotics.