Biochemical and molecular activities of Candida albicans treated with medicinal plants

Joint Conference on 6^th Annual Conference on Microbiology & Annual Conference on Microbes and Beneficial Microbes

October 16-17, 2017 Baltimore, USA

Awatif Al-Judaibi and Sara Al-Alee

King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia

Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Med Microb Diagn

Abstract :

This study aimed to compare the antimicrobial activity of Phoenix dactylifera and Ziziphus spina-christi ethanol extracts in terms of their biochemical and molecular effects on Candida albicans. These effects were evaluated with regard to intracellular sterols, permeability of the cell membranes, and morphological characteristics determined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDAX) analyses were also conducted in addition to assessment of the changes in TEF1: QRTTEF1, CaERG1: ERG1, CdERG12: CdERG1, and ERG25: ERG25 genes. The results showed that sterols increased by 1.096% and 0.588% with treatment by P. dactylifera and Z. spina-christi, respectively, compared to the untreated cells. The ethanol extracts were effective on C. albicans permeability by reducing the cell membranes permeability. The SEM and EDAX analyses showed cell cavities and shrinkage of the cell wall. In addition, the quantity of cells was decreased to a few abnormal cells compared to the untreated cells. Yttrium was detected in the cells treated with Z. spina-christi, and high levels of osmium were detected in the cells treated with P. dactylifera. The gene sequence showed gaps and mismatches on ERG1F, ERG1R, ERG12F, ERG12R, and ERG25F genes after treatment with P. dactylifera and Z. spina-christi compared to untreated cells. The results were highly significant (p�0.01), and we concluded that ethanol extracts of P. dactylifera and Z. spina-christi have an antimicrobial effect on several targets in yeast cells.

Biography :

Awatif Al-Judaibi has a position of Demonstrator then a Lecturer at King Abdulaziz University. She completed her PhD at (KAU) in 2004. She has a position of Associate Professor in the Department of Biological sciences-Microbiology, and Dean’s assistant in the Deanship of Community Services & Continuing Education-Rabigh brunch. She has skills and experience in the antibacterial activity and molecular microbiology research, and she is the ASM country's ambassador of Saudi Arabia. In 2015, she has been awarded with a patent from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. She supervised Master’s students in several projects with the aims of bacteriology, multidrug resistant bacteria, antimicrobial agents. She has more than 26 publications.