Prevalence of Bacillus in the interior tissues of Monsonia burkeana and other medicinal plants in South Africa

This study was undertaken to isolate and identify endophytic bacteria in Monsonia burkeana and eight other medicinal plant species, namely, Aloe aculeata, A. arborescens, A. chabaudii, Aloe spp., Athrixia phylicoides, Cotyledon orbiculata, Portulacaria afra and Sansevieria hyacinthoides. Interior tissues of the nine medicinal plant species were sampled and endophytic bacteria were isolated under sterile conditions. The bacteria were grown on Luria Bertani agar and bacterial species identification was done by using MALDI-TOF. A wide range of bacteria represented by the genera Acinetobacter, Anaerococcus, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Burkholderia, Cellulosimicrobium, Clostridium, Enterobacter, Escherichia, Kocuria, Lactobacillus, Microbacterium, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptomyces and Viridibacillus were identified in the different plant species. Bacillus was the most prevalent bacterial genus found in three plant genera and in all tissues of M. burkeana. This study forms the basis for further research in cataloguing endophytes in medicinal plants.