Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries

This study aimed to find a suitable plant drug source against the causal organism of Bovine babesiosis i.e., Babesia bigemina. The protozoan B. bigemina was selected due to the drastic effects on the health of dairy cows and young calves. The selected drug target molecules were homology modelled via the Swiss Model server, to ensure accuracy and minimization of errors. Ramachandran plots were used to evaluate the suitability of the proteins, with all homology models exhibiting a score of more than 95% in the Ramachandran favoured regions. Around 1,102 secondary metabolites derived from 60 ethnobotanical plants were subjected to autodocking, using the Autodock Vina in the Pyrx application on each of the target molecules. The results indicated that Jervine, present in Veratrum viride had the highest binding potential to two of the drug targets, ubiquitin and fructose bisphosphate aldolase, by demonstrating binding energy of -10.7 Kcal/mol and -10.1 Kcal/mol. Multiple phytochemicals produced by the plant Calendula officinalis also showed significant binding potentials to the drug target; with luteoxanthin having best binding energy of -11.1 Kcal/mol. Therefore, through the docking analysis of various secondary metabolites, it was concluded that V. viride and C. officinalis can be used for the treatment of bovine babesiosis, as the synergistic effects of the phytochemicals produced by these plants could efficiently inhibit the functions of the drug targets.