Are Sphagnum-species potential antagonists of pathogens?

Abstract: Bryophytes (nonvascular plants such as mosses and ferns) are considered as promising sources of antibiotics and biologically active compounds in nature. Mosses, especially the Sphagnum species, constitute a large part of photosynthesizing biomass in Northern Hemisphere and they serve as bioeconomically important but rarely used resource. The widespread Sphagnum magellanicum was used as a model species to investigate antioxidative capacity and antagonistic properties of Sphagnum moss. Two different bacterial biosensor strains (S. aureus 8325-4/pAT19-luxABCDE-hlaPr-frp and E. coli K-12/pCGLS-1) were used to evaluate the effect of alive S. magellanicum on growth of bacteria. Furthermore, extracellular peroxidase was shown to be activated with chitosan treatment (fungal cell wall component). The results indicated antagonistic potential of Sphagnum against bacteria and fungi.