Making use of plants as curative agents is as old as disease, which in turn is as ancient as man himself. Plants have been used for curing human ailments for ages. Evidences for potential antiparasitic, antimalarial, leishmanicidal, antitumorous, fungicidal and antibacterial properties of plants can be found in traditional medicine. Still, a number of plants are yet to be screened for their latent medicinal applications. In accordance with this information, antimicrobial activity of the selected plant, which is commonly considered as traditional medicinal plant, was tested. Caesalpinia pulcherrima is an exotic, drought-resistant shrub or small tree, belonging to the family Caesalpinaceae. The flowers are good medicine for bronchitis, asthma, intestinal worms and malarial fever. It is a proven fact that in vitro propagation releases more amounts of secondary metabolites than that of the naturally grown plants. Keeping this fact in view, an attempt was made to screen the antimicrobial nature of C. pulcherrima callus extracts against some pathogenic bacteria and fungi. Callus extracts of C. pulcherrima flowers prepared in various organic solvents such as acetone, benzene, chloroform, hexane, methanol and petroleum ether were tested for antimicrobial activity against Bacillus megaterium, B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, Enterobacter faecalis, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger, A. fumigatus and Candida albicans. Chloroform and acetone extracts were found to be effective against most of the test organisms. The phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloids, fixed oils, steroids, tannins and glycosides.

Caesalpinia pulcherrima is an exotic, drought-resistant shrub or small tree, belonging to the family Caesalpinaceae. The flowers are good medicine for bronchitis, asthma, intestinal worms and malarial fever (Parotta, 2002). It is a proven fact that in vitro propagations release more amounts of secondary metabolites than that of the naturally grown plants (Aneja, 1996). Keeping this fact in view, we made an attempt to screen the antimicrobial nature of C. pulcherrima callus extracts against some pathogenic bacteria and fungi.

Genetics & Evolution Journal, CEL-I Endonuclease, Heterozygous Mutants, Homozygous Mutants, Biological Processes, Plant Mutants, Solanum Lycopersicon, Microcentrifuge Tubes, Homozygous Plants, Plant Genes, Cross Pollination, Heteroduplex Formation.