An analysis of antiseptic and antibiotic properties of variously treated mosses and lichen.

Abstract

Lichen, a symbiosis between algae and fungus, and sphagnum moss are both able to fight against bacteria. In this experiment, we tested whether moss and lichen have antibiotic or antiseptic properties on human-affecting bacteria, and to find out which types of mosses and lichen have the strongest of these properties. We collected samples of fruticose lichen, foliose lichen, crustose lichen, red sphagnum moss (Sp. 1) and green sphagnum moss (Sp. 2) from Bryant Bog and placed them into 160 Petri dishes with bacteria. We also recorded the pH of each type, to see if it had a relationship with bacterial growth. Although pH was not found to be related to antiseptic and antibiotic properties, treatments of each taxon were found to make a difference in the inhibition of bacterial growth. The abilities lichen and sphagnum moss to fight off bacteria were determined after they were plated for five days with gram-positive bacteria in an incubator at 35C. From our test, we were able to draw the conclusion that fruticose, when crushed, was a strong antibiotic compound, and ground green sphagnum moss (Sp. 2) was a strong antiseptic compound.