Antimicrobial activities of extracts of Cyperus rotundus L. rhizomes against some bacterial and fungal pathogens of strawberry and tomato

Abstract

Antimicrobial activities of rhizome extracts of Cyperus rotundus were investigated on selected plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Ethyl acetate and hexane extracts showed antibacterial activity against three isolates of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis at concentrations of 900 and 1000 μg/ml. However, Gram-negative bacterial pathogens of tomato; Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato and Ralstonia solanacearum were not inhibited from the extracts. Ethyl acetate extracts at 100 μg/ml inhibited mycelial growth and spore germination of the two strawberry isolates of Botrytis cinerea; however, no significant inhibition was found in tomato fungal pathogen, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici. Minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined as 0.0625 and 0.125 mg/ml against C. michiganensis subsp. michiganensis for ethyl acetate and hexane extracts of rhizomes, respectively. This study shows the potentials of extracts of C. rotundus rhizomes as antimicrobial agents that are effective against the tested plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Keywords:

• Botrytis cinerea
• Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis
• Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. radicis lycopersici
• Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato
• Ralstonia solanacearum
• antifungal
• antibacterial
• plant pathogens

Acknowledgements

Authors thank Associate Prof. Dr Ayhan Yıldız and Prof. Dr Ömür Baysal for providing fungal isolates.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Adnan Menderes University, project fund number ZRF-09008.