Antibacterial activity in extracts of Cylindrocolea recurvifolia (Cephaloziellaceae, Marchantiophyta) and Pleurozia subinflata (Pleuroziaceae, Marchantiophyta)

Disc diffusion assay was used to screen for antibacterial activity of aqueous, alcoholic and ether extracts of two liverworts with different habitats: Cylindrocolea recurvifolia (Cephaloziellaceae) on moist rocks in shaded forest, and Pleurozia subinflata (Pleuroziaceae) on trunks or branches in forest canopy. The ether extracts of C. recurvifolia were active against all seven selected bacterial species, alcoholic extracts possess antibacterial activity against six of the seven, but aqueous extracts exhibit very weak antibacterial activity only against one of the seven bacterial species. The ether and alcoholic extracts of Pleurozia subinflata demonstrated antimicrobial activity against six of the seven, but aqueous extracts exhibit weak antibacterial activity only against two of the seven bacterial species. Antibacterial activity of the ether extracts, expressed as MICs and MBCs, was compared with three reference antibiotic drugs. This is the first report of antibacterial activity tested on plants of Cephaloziellaceae and Pleuroziaceae. The genus Cylindrocolea is newly reported for Guangxi Province of China.