Natural products of higher plants may offer a new source of antibacterial agents (Brunter and Grein, 1994). Microbiologists and pharmacological scientists are now in search of new antibiotics that could be used to combat illness caused by resistant microorganisms. However, the potential of the plants as sources of new drugs is still largely unexplored.
In India, a large number of medicinal plants have been used for many centuries for treating various diseases (Chopra et al., 1956; Wright and Philipson, 1990; Kathiresan and Ramanathan, 1997, 1999; and Ramanathan, 2000). Biological screening of plants for a wide range of activities proved that plants can be used for treating various diseases such as asthma, cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, recurrent fevers, ulcers, rheumatism and urcemia (Ambasta, 1986; Chopra et al., 1956; The wealth of India, 1985; Abraham et al., 1986; Rajasekaran et al., 1994; Ali et al., 1995; Grayer and Harbane, 1994; and Sertice et al., 1992).
In recent years, several reports on the antibacterial activity of marine plants have been published (Hornsey and Hide, 1974; Caccamese and Azzolina, 1979; Blard et al., 1980; Rao and Parekh, 1981; Pesando and Caram, 1984; Reichelt and Borowitzka, 1984; and Rao et al., 1986). Only very few reports on the antibacterial activity of plants existing along the coastal environ are available (Padmakumar and Ayyakkannu, 1985; Ramanathan, 1996; Ramanathan, 2000; and Ramanathan and Kathiresan, 2000). In the present study, a broad screening of the coastal plants for antibacterial activity has been attempted. |
