Evidence for some antimicrobial properties of English churchyard lichens

dc.contributor.authorTaylor, Judith A.
dc.contributor.authorFourie, Toscane
dc.contributor.authorPowell, Mark
dc.contributor.authorChianella, Iva
dc.date.accessioned2023-08-07T09:50:35Z
dc.date.available2023-08-07T09:50:35Z
dc.date.issued2023-06-20
dc.description.abstractThe emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has driven the need for novel antibiotics. Our investigations have focussed on lichens as they naturally produce a wide range of unique and very effective defence chemicals. The aim of this study was to evaluate some of the antimicrobial properties of ten common British churchyard lichens. The lichen material was sampled from ten species, namely Caloplaca flavescens, Diploicia canescens, Cladonia fimbriata, Psilolechia lucida, Lecanora campestris subsp. Campestris, Lecanora sulphurea, Pertusaria amara f.amara, Lepraria incana, Porpidia tuberculosa and Xanthoria calcicola. Crude acetone extracts of these lichens were tested against six bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonela typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes and Lactobacillus acidophilus ) and two fungi (Trichophyton interdigitale and Aspergillus flavus) by the disc-diffusion susceptibility test method. Extracts of Diploicia canescens, Psilolechia lucida, Lecanora sulphurea, Pertusaria amara and Lepraria incana showed clear inhibition of the Gram-positive bacteria tested (S. aureus, L. monocytogenes, L. plantarum). Diploicia canescens, Pertusaria amara and Lepraria incana extracts also inhibited the dermatophyte fungi tested. The Lepraria incana sample tested here was the only extract that showed activity against any of the Gram-negative bacteria tested; it showed inhibition of Pseudomnas aeruginosa. Overall, our results showed that crude extracts of Diploicia canescens and Pertusaria amara had the most potent antimicrobial activity of all the extracts tested. Our results are in general agreement with published findings elsewhere. The activity of the Porpidia tuberculosa margin sample being different from that of the main colony material was an interesting and new finding reported here for the first time.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationTaylor JA, Fourie T, Powell M, Chianella I. (2023) Evidence for some antimicrobial properties of English churchyard lichens. Access Microbiology, Volume 5, Issue 6, June 2023en_UK
dc.identifier.issn2516-8290
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1099/acmi.0.000536.v4
dc.identifier.urihttps://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/20053
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherThe Microbiology Societyen_UK
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/*
dc.subjectantimicrobialen_UK
dc.subjectDiploicia canescensen_UK
dc.subjectlichensen_UK
dc.subjectPertusaria amara and secondary metabolitesen_UK
dc.titleEvidence for some antimicrobial properties of English churchyard lichensen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

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