In Vitro Antibacterial Efficacy of Cymbopogon flexuosus Essential Oil against Aeromonas hydrophila of Fish Origin and in Silico Molecular Docking of the Essential Oil Components against DNA Gyrase-B and Their Drug-Likeness

In aquaculture, diseases caused by the Aeromonads with high antibiotic resistance are among the most common and troublesome diseases. Application of herbs is emerging as a tool in controlling these diseases. Plant extracts besides disease control, favor various physiological activities in fish. In this study, essential oil of Cymbopogon flexuosus (Poaceae family) was studied in vitro for its antibacterial efficacy against two oxytetracycline (OTC) resistant and one sensitive strains of Aeromonas hydrophila. The oil was found rich (86.93 %) in oxygenated terpenoids containing 74.15 % of citral. The oil exhibited dose dependent growth inhibition of the bacteria. Mean MIC value of the oil against the sensitive strain was recorded as 2.0 mg mL(-1) whereas MBC value was recorded as 4.0 mg mL(-1). The oil was found effective against the OTC resistant isolates with the MIC and MBC values ranging from 2.67-3.33 and 4.0-6.67 mg mL(-1), respectively. In silico molecular docking of the essential oil components against DNA gyrase-B, a vital macromolecule in bacterial cell, was carried out to computationally asses the efficacy of the oil against the bacteria. Some of the components of the essential oil strongly bonded with the enzyme to inhibit its efficacy. Binding energy of some components of the oil was comparable to that of the conventional antibiotic, OTC. The identified phytochemicals exhibited favorable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties and satisfied the rule of five (Ro5).

Automated summary

Diseases caused by antibiotic-resistant Aeromonads are common and troublesome in aquaculture. In this study, the antibacterial efficacy of Cymbopogon flexuosus essential oil was investigated against OTC-resistant and sensitive strains of Aeromonas hydrophila. The oil exhibited dose-dependent growth inhibition of the bacteria and showed effectiveness against OTC-resistant isolates. Molecular docking experiments revealed that some components of the oil strongly bonded with DNA gyrase-B, inhibiting its efficacy. The identified phytochemicals had favorable physicochemical and pharmacokinetic properties and satisfied the rule of five (Ro5).