Myrtus communis is a typical plant of Mediterranean area. The different parts of this plant such as berries, branches, and leaves have been used worldwide as a traditional/folk medicine for the treatment of various ailments and diseases. Ethanolic leaf extract of the plant was prepared by Soxhlet extraction method. Zone of inhibition, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimal bactericidal concentration were determined by well diffusion method and microplate alamar blue assay. GC-MS analysis was carried out to identify the compounds present in the extract. Microscopy and ImageJ software were used respectively for morphology and cell-length measurements. GraphPad Prism was used for statistical analysis. The ethanolic extract showed strong inhibitory effect against Gram-positive and acid-fast bacteria with significant inhibition-zone size (9–25 mm), MIC (4.87–78 μg/ml), as well as MBC (0.3–20 mg/ml). However, no effect was observed on the growth of Gram-negative bacteria. The growth inhibition was found to be associated with the damage of cell wall as the extract-treated cells were sensitive to cell wall-targeting antibiotics and displayed the cell wall damage-depicting morphological defects. GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of novel compounds in addition to the most representative compounds of the essential oils/extracts of M. communis of other country origins. These results demonstrate that M. communis leaf extract could be the source of compounds to be used for the treatment of Gram-positive bacterial infections. This is the first report, which provides insights into the mechanism of action of the extract in inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria.

中文翻译：

---

桃金娘提取物的GC-MS分析及其对革兰氏阳性菌的抗菌活性。

桃金娘是地中海地区的典型植物。这种植物的不同部分（例如浆果，树枝和树叶）已在世界范围内用作治疗各种疾病和疾病的传统/民间药物。用索氏提取法制备了植物的乙醇提取物。抑制区，最小抑菌浓度和最小杀菌浓度通过孔扩散法和微孔板艾玛蓝测定法确定。进行了GC-MS分析以鉴定提取物中存在的化合物。显微镜和ImageJ软件分别用于形态学和细胞长度测量。GraphPad Prism用于统计分析。乙醇提取物对革兰氏阳性和耐酸细菌表现出强烈的抑制作用，具有明显的抑制区大小（9–25 mm），MIC（4.87–78μg/ ml）以及MBC（0.3–20 mg / ml） ）。但是，没有观察到革兰氏阴性细菌的生长。发现生长抑制与细胞壁的损伤有关，因为提取物处理的细胞对靶向细胞壁的抗生素敏感并表现出描述细胞壁损伤的形态学缺陷。GC-MS分析证实，除来自其他国家/地区的沙棘分枝杆菌精油/提取物中最具代表性的化合物外，还存在新化合物。这些结果表明，沙枣叶提取物可能是用于治疗革兰氏阳性细菌感染的化合物的来源。这是第一份报告，