A methoxylated flavone from Artemisia afra kills Mycobacterium tuberculosis .

Tuberculosis, caused by Mycobacterium (Mtb), is a deadly and debilitating disease globally affecting millions annually. Emerging drug-resistant Mtb strains endanger the efficacy of the current combination therapies employed to treat tuberculosis; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop novel drugs to combat this disease. is used traditionally in southern Africa to treat malaria and recently has shown anti tuberculosis activity. This genus synthesizes a prodigious number of phytochemicals, many of which have demonstrated human health effects. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that exerts different effects on Mtb compared to or the well-known antimalarial artemisinin, suggesting other phytochemicals present in with unique modes of action. A biochemometric study of resulted in the isolation of a methoxylated flavone ( ), which displayed considerable activity against Mtb strain mc 6230. Compound had an MIC of 312.5 μg/mL and yielded no viable colonies after 6 days of treatment. In addition, was effective in killing hypoxic Mtb cultures, with no viable cultures after 2 days of treatment. This suggested that is a source of potentially powerful anti-Mtb phytochemicals with novel mechanisms of action.