Presenter: Lauren McFadden
Authors: Lauren McFadden
Faculty Advisor: Amita Kaundal
Institution: Utah State University
Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) is a medicinal plant native to the Intermountain West region of the US. The parts of sagebrush, such as the leaves, flowers, and roots of these plants are traditionally used by Native Americans for ages to treat various ailments. Some of the common uses of the different parts included using them to make a tea or used as a smudge to help colds, coughs, sore throats, toothaches, and heal deep cuts. Medicinal plants contain secondary metabolites with various functions, such as defenses against microbes. Our goal is to investigate sagebrush root extracts for antimicrobial activities. We hypothesize that the root extract of sagebrush has antimicrobial activity and inhibits the growth of various pathogenic bacteria. To test this, we will extract crude contents of sagebrush roots using methanol. The contents from the lateral roots and primary roots will be extracted separately. The root samples are collected and washed, and then the primary and lateral roots are separated from each other. They are now drying in the dark at low temperatures. Once the root samples are dried, they will be ground into a fine powder and then dissolved in methanol for 1-3 days. After the methanol dissolves all contents, the solution will be filtered, and the methanol will be removed by evaporation. The leftover contents will then be dissolved in DMSO, and sterilized filter paper disks will be soaked in these extracts. We will test these extracts against Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coliDh5, Pseudomonas syringae pv DC3000, P.syringaepv tabaci, and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria on Mueller Hinton agar by disk diffusion method for antimicrobial activities. The zone of inhibition will then be measure and compared against known corresponding antibiotics for each bacterium. The extracts will be tested three times to confirm our results.