Journal
NATURAL PRODUCT RESEARCH
Volume 31, Issue 5, Pages 572-577Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2016.1195380
Keywords
Antimicrobial activity; competitive interactions; mode-of-action; membrane leakage; microbial pigment prodigiosin; Staphylococcus aureus; Serratia marcescens
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Funding
- University Grants Commission
- Department of Science and Technology, India
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The bacterial pigment prodigiosin has various biological activities; it is, for instance, an effective antimicrobial. Here, we investigate the primary site targeted by prodigiosin, using the cells of microbial pathogens of humans as model systems: Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus. Inhibitory concentrations of prodigiosin; leakage of intracellular K+ ions, amino acids, proteins and sugars; impacts on activities of proteases, catalases and oxidases; and changes in surface appearance of pathogen cells were determined. Prodigiosin was highly inhibitory (30% growth rate reduction of C. albicans, E. coli, S. aureus at 0.3, 100 and 0.18 mu g ml(-1), respectively); caused leakage of intracellular substances (most severe in S. aureus); was highly inhibitory to each enzyme; and caused changes to S. aureus indicative of cell-surface damage. Collectively, these findings suggest that prodigiosin, log Poctanol-water 5.16, is not a toxin but is a hydrophobic stressor able to disrupt the plasma membrane via a chaotropicity-mediated mode-of-action. [GRAPHICS] .
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