IN VITRO CULTURE AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF Ocimum basilicum L. var. 'Spicy globe' AND Artemisia eriantha Ten.

In this preliminary screening, we assessed the antibacterial activity of in vitro obtained plant material, namely shoots of Artemisia eriantha (Asteraceae) and callus of Ocimum basilicum L. var. 'Spicy globe', against two bacteria strains, the Gram-positive ones including Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, and Gram-negative, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 by the plate-counting method. Artemisia sprouted on the Murashige-Skoog medium added with 1.5 mg/L benzylaminopurine and 'Spicy globe' basil developed callus on Murashige - Skook basal medium supplemented with 2.5 mg/L naphtylacetic acid (NAA). The method of using small pieces of vegetal material inoculated in Erlenmeyer flasks on liquid Luria-Bertani medium added with standardized microbial cell suspension was not effective against the pathogenic bacteria in the case of the Artemisia species, but the same method was efficient for basil cultivar 'Spicy globe'.