Identification of phytoconstituents from Dicliptera paniculata and study of antibacterial activity guided by molecular docking

According to WHO, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest healthcare challenges to the global community. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to discover new antibiotics to address the challenge. Dicliptera paniculata (ForssK.) I. Darbysh, a rare medicinal herb of Acanthaceae, is known for its noteworthy uses as a flavoring, spicing, and antibacterial agent. The primary goal of the study is to identify novel antibacterials from D. paniculata . The petroleum ether fraction of the methanol extract of D. paniculata was subjected to GC–MS and identified 14 compounds. Several bacterial target proteins were used for molecular docking. The antibacterial activity of petroleum-ether fraction was evaluated on bacteria whose target protein interacts most strongly with identified molecules. The molecules DP_02, DP_06, and DP_14 exhibited the highest docking scores with Staphylococcus aureus dihydrofolate reductase, which were − 6.283, − 7.705, and − 6.364 kcal/mol, respectively. The MM-GBSA binding energy of compounds DP_02, DP_06, and DP_14 were − 46.736, − 42.366, and − 35.734 kcal/mol, respectively. The MM-GBSA binding energy and decent docking score of the compounds DP_02 and DP_06 were both encouraging, and both of the compounds are drug-like. The finding was validated through studies on antibacterial effectiveness against S. aureus and showed encouraging results. These two molecules might serve as the building blocks for the future development of potent antibiotics.