• Korean Journal of Plant Tissue Culture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.325-337
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• 2000

All living organisms depend on soil and water for their sustained growth and development. In recent years, sustenance of life in these growth matrices has been adversely affected by the cumulative increase in environmental pollutants resulting from increasing population, growing economies and resource-use. This review provides a glimpse into the problem of global environmental pollution, the traditional technologies available for remediation and the scope of emerging‘plant-based remediation’technologies. Phytoremediation, the use of plants to effectively remove or stabilize contaminants from the growth substrate, is a low cost and ecologically friendly alternative to the common‘dig and dump’technologies. The field of phytoremediation has been driven by the intrinsic need for identification of ideal candidate plant species. To date, there are only a very few identified plants which satisfy all of the prerequisites for use in phytoremediation. The review focuses on one such plant species, the common horticultural plant scented geranium (Pelargonium sp.), with demonstrated potential to remediate metal / salt contaminated soils / aqueous systems. The characterization of tolerance and metal / salt accumulation potential of Pelargonium sp. and its efficacy in remediating complex contaminated sites are described. The unique ability of scented geraniums to tolerate excessive amounts of multi-metals, hydrocarbon and salt mixtures, and at the same time to accumulate significant amounts of metal and salt ions in the biomass, renders this plant species as one of the ideal candidates for remediation.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.449-456
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• 2017

Objective : Coptis rhizoma is traditional herb in Korean medicine, and Pelargonium sidoides extract has been used for relief of acute bronchitis in Western medicine. The present study examined the antibacterial effect of fusion formulation of Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract against bronchial diseases bacteria. Methods : Test sample, fusion formulation of Korean and Western medicine, was prepared by mixing Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract at a ratio of 1:2 (w/w). Antimicrobial properties of test sample were determined by agar diffusion assay and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) against bronchus diseases bacteria. Results : In agar diffusion assay, the highest amount of test sample (4 mg/disk) exhibited antibacterial activity against all microorganisms tested. Test sample showed the high activity for S. aureus (19.5 mm), C. diptheriae (16.5 mm), A. fumigatus (19.3 mm), F. nucleatum (22.7 mm) and Mycobactrium sp. (17.3 mm), whereas it showed a low activity for K. pneumonia (9.7 mm). The MIC value was determined as $250{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ against C. diptheriae. Test sample showed better growth inhibitory effects against S. aureus and A. fumigatus with the MIC valus of $125{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Conclusion : These results suggest the possibility of application to chronic respiratory diseases of fusion formulation of Korean and Western medicine, which was prepared with Coptis rhizoma extract and Pelargonium sidoides extract.

• Mycobiology
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.335-339
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• 2019

Endophytic fungi have the ability to live inside the host plant tissues without causing neither symptoms of diseases/or harm. Opportunistic infections are accountable for majority of the outbreaks, thereby putting a burden on the health system. To investigate and characterize the bioactive compounds for the control of bacteria of clinical importance, extracts from endophytic fungi were isolated from indigenous South African medicinal plants. Extracts from endophytic fungi were isolated from 133 fungal strains and screened against Gram positive and negative bacteria namely Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecium, and E. gallinarum using disk diffusion. Furthermore, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was performed to identify the bioactive compounds. Sixteen out of one hundred and thirty-three (12%) fungi extracts exhibited antibacterial properties against some of the selected bacteria. E. coli was found to be the most susceptible in contrast to E. faecium and E. gallinarum which were the most resistant. The isolate MHE 68, identified as Alternaria sp. displayed the greater spectrum of antibacterial activities by controlling selected clinical bacteria strains including resistant E. faecium and E. gallinarum. The chemical analysis of the extract from MHE 68 indicated that linoleic acid (9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)) and cyclodecasiloxane could be accountable for the antibacterial activity. This is the first study conducted on the secondary metabolites produced by endophytic fungal strains isolated from the Pelargonium sidoides DC. possessing antibacterial properties.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.178-182
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• 2008

Five essential oils and 15 herbal extracts were evaluated to control Bursaphelenchus xylophillus in laboratory. The essential oils from clove plant (Syzygium aromaticum), mustard (Brassica integrefolia), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), and Pelargonium inquinans were found to be highly promising and gave excellent control of the nematodes at all the time of exposure. Among them, the least one gave 91.3% mean mortality rate at 24 hours of exposure time, which is highly significant from the control. While in the second study, most of the methanol (Desmodium caudatum, Paulownia coreana, Auckulandia lappa, Sophota flavescens, Aloe sp., Rheum palmatum, Zingiber officinale, Magnolia officinalis, and Eugenia caryophyllata), hexane (Torreya nucifera, Pharbitis nil, Prunus mume, Melia azedarach, and Xanthium strumarium), and hot water (Cinnamomum cassia) herbal extracts killed the nematodes, but in varying degrees compared to the control. Only one extract was found to be promising viz Magnolia officinalis which found to be statistically different from the control and gave mean mortality of 72, 82.3, and 85.3 % for 24, 48, and 72 hours exposure, respectively. Further screening was conducted for M. officinalis with concentrations of 1,000, 100, and 10 ppm against the same species of nematode with the same time of exposure. However, it gave an excellent result for 1,000 ppm for all time of exposure, whereas for the 100 and 10 ppm it gave mean mortality of 39.5 and 25.8% for the time 72hrs, respectively that were statistically different from the control.