Genotoxic and molecular evaluation of genetic effects of Rhazya stricta (decne) leaf extract on Aspergillus terreus [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Dense conidial suspensions of Aspergillus terreus were treated with elevated concentrations of aqueous extract of the wild Rhazya stricta plant leaves. Samples were taken at regular intervals for each treatment and assayed for survival percentage, auxotrophic mutants, and RAPD and SDS-PAGE analyses. It was found that the extract has potent lethal and mutagenic activities. Survival percentage decreased as the concentration or time of exposure increased. Frequency of auxotrophic mutants increased with the increase in concentration or exposure time. Most auxotrophic mutants were amino acid-requiring. The RAPD results demonstrated a number of polymorphic bands across mutants as compared to the wild type strain. SDS-PAGE results also expressed polymorphism of protein bands. Generally, the results strongly point out to the mutagenic potency of the leaf extract of R. stricta on conidial suspensions of Aspergillus terreus.

1