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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microbial Symbioses
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1383854
This article is part of the Research Topic Plant Microbiome: Interactions, Mechanisms of Action, and Applications, Volume III View all 8 articles

Next generation sequencing-aided screening, isolation, molecular identification, and antimicrobial potential for bacterial endophytes from the medicinal plant, Elephantorrhiza elephantina

Provisionally accepted
Matsobane Tlou Matsobane Tlou 1*Bennedict Ndou Bennedict Ndou 1Nokufa Mabona Nokufa Mabona 1Adivhaho Khwathisi Adivhaho Khwathisi 2Collins Njie Ateba Collins Njie Ateba 1Ntakadzeni Madala Ntakadzeni Madala 2Mahloro H. Serepa-Dlamini Mahloro H. Serepa-Dlamini 3
  • 1 North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa
  • 2 University of Venda, Thohoyandou, Limpopo, South Africa
  • 3 University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Elephantorrhiza elephantina, a wild plant in southern Africa, is utilized in traditional medicine for various ailments, leading to its endangerment and listing on the Red List of South African Plants. To date, there have been no reports on bacterial endophytes from this plant, their classes of secondary metabolites, and potential medicinal properties. This study presents (i) taxonomic characterization of bacterial endophytes in leaf and root tissues using 16S rRNA, (ii) bacterial isolation, morphological, and phylogenetic characterization, (iii) bacterial growth, metabolite extraction, and LC-MS-based metabolite fingerprinting, and (iv) antimicrobial testing of bacterial crude extracts. Next-generation sequencing yielded 693 and 2459 DNA read counts for the rhizomes and leaves, respectively, detecting phyla including Proteobacteria,

    Keywords: Elephantorriza elephantina, Next-generation sequencing, Taxonomy, bacterial endophytes, phylogeny, secondary metabolites, Antimicrobial activity

    Received: 08 Feb 2024; Accepted: 06 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Tlou, Ndou, Mabona, Khwathisi, Ateba, Madala and Serepa-Dlamini. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Matsobane Tlou, North-West University, Mafikeng, South Africa

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