Report - Screening of medicinally important Berberis lyceum for their antimicrobial activity by disc diffusion assay.

The present research was focused on the anti-microbial activities of different solvent extracted fractions from commercial available and fresh plants of Berberis lyceum against Gram positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi using 1 and 2 mg disc(-1) concentrations. Our results showed that fractions from both sources revealed different degree of antimicrobial activities. Our result indicated that Escherichia coli, Citorbacter freundii and Candida albicans were more susceptible to crude methanolic extract and the same microbes were resistant to water extracted fractions. Similarly, maximum reduction in the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis and Xanthomonas campestris was measured by hexane-extracted fractions and minimum growth inhibition by water-extracted fractions. Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus were more susceptible to ethyl acetate fraction. Majority of the tested microbes were resistant to water and butanol extracted samples. Staphylococcus aureus was the most susceptible gram-positive bacteria and Bacillus subtilis was resistant one. Among Gram-negative bacteria, Citorbacter freundii showed maximum susceptibility while Xanthomonas campestris revealed resistivity.