<i>Bougainvillea glabra</i> C., <i>Eucalyptus globules</i> Labill., and <i>Gnaphalium attenuatum</i> DC., as well as propolis, have been used in Mexican traditional medicine as a remedy to treat respiratory illnesses. There are few biological reports of such material collected in Mexico, despite the high demand for them as raw material for popular and industrial uses. The antibacterial activity of the plants and propolis studied here were evaluated against a panel of bacteria using three different methodologies: agar disc diffusion, macro and micro dilution methods. <i>E. globules</i> and <i>G. attenuatum</i> extracts showed the strongest active values (P > 0.05) in the agar disc diffusion method with a range of 8 - 22 mm inhibition zone, MIC values ranging from 25 - 250g/mL, and MBC values of 25 - 500g/mL obtained by macro and micro dilution methods. <i>B. glabra</i> extracts were active against <i>E. coli</i>, <i>S. typhi, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus</i> and <i>S. agalactiae</i>, with 8 - 13 mm inhibition zone, MICs ranging from 500 - 3000g/mL, and MBCs of 1000 - 3000g/mL. The propolis extract turned out to be active against <i>E. coli, K. pneumoniae, S. aureus</i> and <i>S. agalactiae</i>, with values of 7 - 12 mm, MICs of 1000 - 2000g/mL, and MBCs of 2000 - 2500g/mL. <i>E. globules</i> and <i>G. attenuatum</i> extracts were the most active in the three methodologies assayed. This is also the first time that the antibacterial activity of <i>G. attenuatum</i> has been experimentally demonstrated. The microdilution method showed to be more sensitive, less expensive and minor time-consuming technique compared with the other two

Background: Stanhopea hernandezii was collected from natural habitat in Mexico for its beautiful fragrant flowers. Biotechnological strategies of propagation may satisfy the market demand and are useful for conservation programs. Hypothesis: Vigorous seedlings of S. hernandezii can be produced in vitro by asymbiotic seed germination techniques and the addition of chitosan to the culture medium in the temporary immersion system (RITA®) and in semi-solid medium systems. Methods: The first step was the in vitro germination of seeds obtained from a mature capsule of wild plants, followed by multiplication via adventitious protocorm induction known as protocorm-like bodies, using plant growth regulators. For this purpose, we utilized Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal medium amended with 0.5 mg/L ?-Naphthaleneacetic acid, combined with different concentrations of 6-Benzylaminepurine (1, 3, and 5 mg/L). The following step comprised the growth and development of protocorms to obtain plantlets in RITA® flasks containing 250 mL of liquid MS medium combined or not with different chitosan concentrations (5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 mg/L). Results: The results showed that media supplemented with 5, 10, and 15 mg/L chitosan concentrations enabled the obtaining of a larger biomass with a range of 40-48 seedlings/RITA® and an average height of 13 mm. The last step was the development from seedlings into plantlets, the latter being, vigorous and achieving up to 100 % survival after 12 weeks of ex vitro cultivation. Conclusion: This paper describes an efficient process of asymbiotic germination and mass propagation of S. hernandezii, a vulnerable orchid species endemic to Mexico.

Stanhopea is an orchid’s genus that includes 55 species distributed from Mexico to Argentina. However, due to its horticultural potential, a decrease in wild populations has been generated by the effect of over-collecting, further aggravated by the effect of habitat destruction, placing some species of Stanhopea from Mexico in some risk categories. In this work, the potential distribution areas of six endemic Stanhopea species in Mexico and in some Federal Natural Protected Area (ANP) were modeled with the use of the MaxEnt software. The potential distribution of the six endemic species in Mexico was obtained, in addition to the fact that it is possible to find one or more species within 74 ANPs.