Antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Acacia aroma Gill. ex Hook et Arn

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of seven ethanolic extracts and three aqueous extracts from various parts (leaves, stems and flowers) of A. aroma against 163 strains of antibiotic multi-resistant bacteria. The disc diffusion assay was performed to evaluate antibacterial activity of the A. aroma crude extracts, against several Gram-positive bacteria (E. faecalis, S. aureus, coagulase-negative stahylococci, S. pyogenes, S. agalactiae, S. aureus ATCC 29213, E. faecalis ATCC 29212) and Gram-negative bacteria (E. coli., K. pneumoniae, P. mirabilis, E. cloacae, S. marcescens, M morganii, A. baumannii, P. aeruginosa, S. maltophilia, E. coli ATCC 35218, P. aeruginosa ATCC 27853, E. coli ATCC 25922). All ethanolic extracts showed activity against gram-positive bacteria. Among all obtained extracts, only leaf and flower fluid extracts showed activity against Gram-negative bacteria. Based on this bioassay, leaf fluid extracts tended to be the most potent, followed by flower fluid extracts. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of extracts and antibiotics were comparatively determined by agar and broth dilution methods. Both extracts were active against S. aureus, coagulase-negative stahylococci, E. faecalis and E. faecium and all tested Gram-negative bacteria with MIC values from 0.067 to 0.308 mg/ml. In this study the minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) values were identical or twice as high than the corresponding MIC for leaf extracts and four or eight times higher than MIC values for flower extracts. This may indicate a bactericidal effect. Stored extracts have similar antibacterial activity as recently obtained extracts. The A. aroma extracts of leaves and flowers may be useful as antibacterial agents against Gram- negative and Gram-positive antibiotic multi-resistant microorganisms.     

Antimicrobial activity of some Salvia species essential oils from Iran

The aerial parts of Salvia multicaulis, S. sclarea and S. verticillata were collected at full flowering stage. The essential oils were isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of capillary GC and GC-MS. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oils were studied against eight Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumulis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and three fungi (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger). The results of antibacterial activity tests of the essential oils according to the disc diffusion method and MIC values indicated that all the samples have moderate to high inhibitory activity against the tested bacteria except for P. aeruginosa which was totally resistant. In contrast to antibacterial activity, the oils exhibited no or slight antifungal property, in which only the oil of S. multicaulis showed weak activity against two tested yeasts, C. albicans and S. cerevisiae.     

Structural variation and inhibitor binding in polypeptide deformylase from four different bacterial species

Polypeptide deformylase (PDF) catalyzes the deformylation of polypeptide chains in bacteria. It is essential for bacterial cell viability and is a potential antibacterial drug target. Here, we report the crystal structures of polypeptide deformylase from four different species of bacteria: Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae, and Escherichia coli. Comparison of these four structures reveals significant overall differences between the two Gram-negative species (E. coli and H. influenzae) and the two Gram-positive species (S. pneumoniae and S. aureus). Despite these differences and low overall sequence identity, the S1' pocket of PDF is well conserved among the four enzymes studied. We also describe the binding of nonpeptidic inhibitor molecules SB-485345, SB-543668, and SB-505684 to both S. pneumoniae and E. coli PDF. Comparison of these structures shows similar binding interactions with both Gram-negative and Gram-positive species. Understanding the similarities and subtle differences in active site structure between species will help to design broad-spectrum polypeptide deformylase inhibitor molecules.     

Synthesis of pseudopeptides based L-tryptophan as a potential antimicrobial agent

Four compounds named L-BTrpPA, L-Trp-o-PA, L-Trp-m-PA and L-Trp-p-PA, pseudopeptides constructed from pyridine and tryptophan units, were synthesized and tested against the Gram-positive, Gram-negative strains of bacteria and human pathogenic fungi. L-Trp-o-PA proved to be a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent, showing a significant inhibition of the growth of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus), and pathogenic fungi (Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans, Rhodotorula glutinis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus nigricans) tested and activity against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Proteus vulgaris, Enterobacter aerogenes) tested. The in vitro cell cytotoxicity of L-Trp-o-PA was evaluated using haemolytic assay, in which the compound was found to have low lytic property, even up to the concentration of 4000 microg/mL, it only lysed 6-7% of erythrocytes, which was 100-fold greater than the MICs (minimum inhibitory concentration).     

In vitro antibacterial activity of laboratory grown culture of Spirulina platensis

The hexane, ethyl acetate, dichloromethane, methanol extracts and spent media (extracellular substances) were tested in vitro for their antibacterial activity for which one Gram-positive bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus) and four Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, and Klebsiella pneumoniae) were used as test organisms. The methanol extract showed more potent activity than other organic extracts, spent medium of the culture exhibited little activity against E. coli only. No inhibitory effect was found against Klebsiella pneumoniae.The broth microdilution assay gave minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) values ranging from 1 to 512 μg/ml. The MIC of methanol extract against S. aureus and E. coli were 128 μg/ml and 256 μg/ml, respectively.     

Synthesis, antimycobacterial and antibacterial activity of ciprofloxacin derivatives containing a N-substituted benzyl moiety

We report herein the design and synthesis of a series of novel ciprofloxacin (CPFX) derivatives with remarkable improvement in lipophilicity by introducing a substituted benzyl moiety to the N atom on the C-7 piperazine ring of CPFX. Antimycobacterial and antibacterial activity of the newly synthesized compounds was evaluated. Results reveal that compound 4f has good in vitro activity against all of the tested Gram-positive strains including MRSA and MRSE (MICs: 0.06-32μg/mL) which is two to eightfold more potent than or comparable to the parent drug CPFX (MICs: 0.25-128μg/mL), Gram-negative bacteria P. aeruginosa (MICs: 0.5-4μg/mL) and M. tuberculosis H37Rv ATCC 27294 (MIC: 1μg/mL).     

Cadmium uptake by growing cells of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria

The present study evaluates the effect of the cadmium (Cd2+) on the growth and protein synthesis of some Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Streptococcus faecium) and Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria and the cadmium uptake by the same micro-organisms. The Gram-negative bacteria tested were less sensitive to metal ions than the Gram-positive, and P. aeruginosa was the most resistant. The Gram-negative bacteria were also able to accumulate higher amounts of cadmium during growth than the Gram-positive bacteria. The maximum values of specific metal uptake (microgram of Cd2+ incorporated per mg of protein) were: 0.52 for S. aureus, 0.65 for S. faecium, 0.79 for B. subtilis, 2.79 for E. coli and 24.15 for P. aeruginosa, respectively. The differences in the ability to accumulate metal found between Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria seems to account for different mechanisms of metal resistance.     

The antimicrobial activity of the appetite peptide hormone ghrelin

The present study examined the antimicrobial activity of the peptide ghrelin. Both major forms of ghrelin, acylated ghrelin (AG) and desacylated ghrelin (DAG), demonstrated the same degree of bactericidal activity against Gram-negative Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), while bactericidal effects against Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) were minimal or absent, respectively. To elucidate the bactericidal mechanism of AG and DAG against bacteria, we monitored the effect of the cationic peptides on the zeta potential of E. coli. Our results show that AG and DAG similarly quenched the negative surface charge of E. coli, suggesting that ghrelin-mediated bactericidal effects are influenced by charge-dependent binding and not by acyl modification. Like most cationic antimicrobial peptides (CAMPs), we also found that the antibacterial activity of AG was attenuated in physiological NaCl concentration (150mM). Nonetheless, these findings indicate that both AG and DAG can act as CAMPs against Gram-negative bacteria.     

Composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of Dicyclophora persica Boiss. from Iran

The chemical composition of the essential oil of Dicyclophora persica Boiss. was identified by GC and GC-MS analysis. The analysis of the oil resulted in the identification of forty-five components constituting 98.6% of the total oil. The main constituents were a-pinene (31.5%), (Z)-beta-ocimene (23.3%), p-cymene (6.7%) and (E)-beta-ocimene (5.4%). The antimicrobial activity of the oil was tested by the disk diffusion method against four Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Enterococcus faecalis) and three Gram-negative (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) bacteria together with a fungus (Aspergillus niger). The oil showed strong inhibition activity toward all the tested microorganisms except for Pseudomonas aeruginosa.     

Antimicrobial activity of Wedelia trilobata crude extracts.

A biological screening of activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts, and fungi of crude extracts from Wedelia trilobata is reported. The n-hexane extract showed antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis, Mycobacterium smegmatis, Staphylococcus aureus, and Staphylococcus epidermidis (Gram-positive bacteria); along with Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella group C, Salmonella paratyphi, and Shigella sonnei (Gram-negative bacteria). The ethyl acetate extract was active only against Salmonella group C; and the aqueous extract was inactive against the tested bacteria. None of the tested extracts showed biological activity against the yeasts (Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Rhodotorula rubra) or the fungi (Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Mucor sp., Trichophyton rubrum).     

Structure-activity relationship study of anoplin.

Anoplin is a decapeptide amide, GLLKRIKTLL-NH2 derived from the venom sac of the solitary spider wasp, Anoplius samariensis. It is active against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and is not hemolytic towards human erythrocytes. The present paper reports a structure-activity study of anoplin based on 37 analogues including an Ala-scan, C- and N-truncations, and single and multiple residue substitutions with various amino acids. The analogues were tested for antibacterial activity against both S. aureus ATCC 25923 and E. coli ATCC 25922, and several potent antibacterial analogues were identified. The cytotoxicity of the analogues against human erythrocytes was assessed in a hemolytic activity assay. The antibacterial activity and selectivity of the analogues against S. aureus and E. coli varied considerably, depending on the hydrophobicity and position of the various substituted amino acids. In certain cases the selectivity for Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria was either reversed or altogether eliminated. In addition, it was generally found that antibacterial activity coincided with hemolytic activity.     

Design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship studies of conformationally restricted mutilin 14-carbamates

We report herein the design, synthesis, and structure-activity relationship studies of conformationally restricted mutilin 14-carbamates based on the structure of SB-222734. The antibacterial activities of these newly synthesized compounds were also evaluated and compared with linezolid and retapamulin. Results showed that most of the target compounds exhibit good potency in inhibiting the growth of Gram-positive bacteria including Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus MSSA (MIC: 0.0625-2μg/mL), Methicillin-resistant S. aureus MRSA (MIC: 0.0625-2μg/mL), Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus epidermidis MSSE (MIC: 0.0625-2μg/mL), Methicillin-resistant S. epidermidis MRSE (MIC: 0.0625-2μg/mL), and Streptococcus pneumonia (MIC: 0.0625-4μg/mL). In particular, three remarkable compounds of this series (12l, 12m, and 21l) exhibited comparable in vitro antibacterial profiles to that of retapamulin.     

Modulation of antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens by oleanolic acid and ursolic acid

Antibiotic resistance among bacterial pathogens is a serious problem for human and veterinary medicine, which necessitates the development of novel therapeutics and antimicrobial strategies. Some plant-derived compounds, e.g. pentacyclic triterpenoids such as oleanolic acid (OA) and ursolic acid (UA), have potential as a new class of antibacterial agents as they are active against many bacterial species, both Gram-positive and Gram-negative, and specifically target the cell envelope. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of OA and UA on the susceptibility of four bacterial pathogens (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis) to the β-lactam antibiotics ampicillin (Ap) and oxacillin (Ox). Antimicrobial assays were conducted with bacteria growing in liquid suspension cultures (planktonic cells) or as biofilms. Using FICI value estimation and the time-kill method it was demonstrated that in some combinations, the tested compounds acted in synergy to lower the susceptibility of S. aureus, S. epidermidis and L. monocytogenes to ampicillin and oxacillin, but no synergy was observed for P. aeruginosa. These results indicate that OA and UA may be useful when administered in combination with β-lactam antibiotics to combat bacterial infections caused by some Gram-positive pathogens.     

Synthesis, structure and biological activity of cobalt(II) and copper(II) complexes of valine-derived schiff bases

We have synthesized two cobalt(II) 2 and copper(II) 3 complexes of valine-derived Schiff bases. The obtained complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, FT-IR and X-ray diffraction. Biological studies of complexes 2 and 3 had been carried out in vitro for antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and human pathogenic fungi. Compound 3 was proven to be a broad spectrum agent, showed a significant inhibition of the growth of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus), and pathogenic fungi (Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans, Rhodothece glutinis, Saccharomyces cerevisia, Aspergillus spp., Rhizopus nigricans) tested and a moderate activity against Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus vulgaris and Enterobacter aerogenes) tested. The in vitro cytotoxicity of compound 3 was evaluated using hemolytic assay, in which the compound 3 was found to be non-toxic to human erythrocytes even at a concentration of 500mug/mL.     

Antimicrobial activity of essential oil and major constituents of Salvia chloroleuca

The aerial parts of Salvia chloroleuca were collected at full flowering stage at Shahrestanak (Tehran province of Iran). The essential oil was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by combination of capillary GC and GC-MS. Thirty-four components were identified, representing 98.5% of the total oil. beta-Pinene (10.6%), alpha-pinene (9.0%), beta-caryophyllene (9.0%), 1,8-cineole (9.0%) and carvacrol (7.9%) were the main components. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of S. chloroleuca was studied against seven Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria (Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae) and three fungi (Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger); the disc diffusion method and MIC values indicated that the oil exhibited moderate to high antimicrobial activity.     

Structure--activity study of the antibacterial peptide fallaxin

Fallaxin is a 25-mer antibacterial peptide amide, which was recently isolated from the West Indian mountain chicken frog Leptodactylus fallax. Fallaxin has been shown to inhibit the growth of several Gram-negative bacteria including Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Here, we report a structure-activity study of fallaxin based on 65 analogs, including a complete alanine scan and a full set of N- and C-terminal truncated analogs. The fallaxin analogs were tested for hemolytic activity and antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-intermediate resistant S. aureus, (VISA), methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA), E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and P. aeruginosa. We identified several analogs, which showed improved antibacterial activity compared to fallaxin. Our best candidate was FA12, which displayed MIC values of 3.12, 25, 25, and 50 muM against E. coli, K. pneumoniae, MSSA, and VISA, respectively. Furthermore, we correlated the antibacterial activity with various structural parameters such as charge, hydrophobicity H, mean hydrophobic moment mu(H), and alpha-helicity. We were able to group the active and inactive analogs according to mean hydrophobicity H and mean hydrophobic moment mu(H). Far-UV CD-spectroscopy experiments on fallaxin and several analogs in buffer, in TFE, and in membrane mimetic environments (small unilamellar vesicles) indicated that a coiled-coil conformation could be an important structural trait for antibacterial activity. This study provides data that support fallaxin analogs as promising lead structures in the development of new antibacterial agents.     

Antimicrobial activity of diterpenoids from hairy roots of Salvia sclarea L.: Salvipisone as a potential anti-biofilm agent active against antibiotic resistant Staphylococci

The antimicrobial activities of crude dichloromethane fractions from acetone extracts of Agrobacterium rhizogenes transformed roots and roots of field-grown plants of Salvia sclarea as well as four pure abietane diterpenoids isolated from the hairy root cultures were determined. The growth of Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, Enterococcus faecalis) but not Gram-negative ones (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa) or pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans) was inhibited by fractions tested at concentrations of 37.5-75.0 microgml(-1). Abietane diterpenoids: salvipisone, aethiopinone, 1-oxoaethiopinone and ferruginol were shown to be bacteriostatic as well as bacteriocidal for the cultures of S. aureus and S. epidermidis strains, regardless of their antibiotic susceptibility profile. This was demonstrated by using simultaneously the optical density measuring method and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide-reduction assay. The highest activity was shown by salvipisone which demonstrated also a very interesting activity when its effect on 24-h-old staphylococcal biofilm cells viability was examined. It limited the survival of biofilms formed by S. aureus as well as by S. epidermidis, putting this compound to the list of potential anti-biofilm agents, better than most of known antibiotics.     

Structure-activity relationships of hydrazono derivatives of biological interest

The following hydrazono derivatives (I-XXIII) of type (A), (formula; see text) where: X = NO2 (II, IV, VI, VIII, X, XIV-XXIII), X = H (I, III, V, VII, IX, XI, XII, XIII), and Y = H (I, II); 3-Cl (III, IV); 4-Cl (V, VI); 3,4-Cl2 (VII, VIII); 2,6-Cl2 (IX, X); 2-NO2 (XI); 3-NO2 (XII); 4-NO2 (XIII, XIV); 2-F (XV); 3-F (XVI); 4-F (XVII); 2-OH (XVIII); 4-OH (XIX); 2,4-(OH)2(XX); 2,4,6-(OH)3(XXI); 2,3-(OH,NO2) (XXII); 2,4-(NO2)2 (XXIII), were prepared and tested for antibacterial and antifungal activity. All of these compounds were prepared in satisfactory yield by reaction of aromatic aldehydes with 2-furoyl and 5-nitro-2-furoyl hydrazide. The hydrazono derivatives I-XXIII prepared in this investigation were screened for antimicrobial activity by a disk-diffusion assay (Kirby-Bauer modified). The organisms used were laboratory cultures of S. aureus, S. -haemoliticus, B. subtilis, M. paratuberculosis, E. coli, S. typhi, Ps. aeruginosa, K1. pneumoniae, A. niger, S. cerevisiae, C. albicans. The results of this study showed that a number of the prepared hydrazono derivatives exhibited varying degrees of activity against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Compounds IV and XV possessed broad spectrum "in vitro" against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Compounds XII greater than IV greater than XV showed inhibitory activity especially toward S. aureus. Compounds IV greater than XV greater than XVI were especially active against E. coli. Compounds XV greater than IV were especially inhibitory toward S. typhi and most of the prepared compounds inhibited considerably Ps. aeruginosa and K1. pneumoniae.     

Viper metalloproteinase (Agkistrodon halys pallas) with antimicrobial activity against multi-drug resistant human pathogens

Metalloproteinases are abundant enzymes in crotalidae and viperidae snake venoms. Snake venom metalloproteinases (SVMPs) comprise a family of zinc-dependent enzymes, which display many different biological activities. A 23.1 kDa protein was isolated from Agkistrodon halys (pallas, Chinese viper) snake venom. The toxin is a single chain polypeptide with a molecular weight of 23146.61 and an N-terminal sequence (MIQVLLVTICLAVFPYQGSSIILES) relatively similar to that of other metalloprotein-like proteases isolated from the snake venoms of the Viperidae family. The antibacterial effect of Agkistrodon halys metalloproteinase (AHM) on Burkholderia pseudomallei (strains TES and KHW), Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative bacteria) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacterium) was studied at a concentration 120 microM. Interestingly, we found that the metalloproteinase exhibited antibacterial properties and was more active against S. aureus, P. vulgaris, P. mirabilis and multi-drug resistant B. pseudomallei (strain KHW) bacteria. AHM variants with high bacteriostatic activity (MIC 1.875-60 microM) also tended to be less cytotoxic against U-937 human monocytic cells up to 1 mM concentrations. These results suggest that this metalloprotein exerts its antimicrobial effect by altering membrane packing and inhibiting mechanosensitive targets.     

Bactericidal activities of rat defensins and synthetic rabbit defensins on Staphylococci, Klebsiella pneumoniae (Chedid, 277, and 8N3), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (mucoid and nonmucoid strains), Salmonella typhimurium (Ra, Rc, Rd, and Re of LPS mutants) and Escherichia coli.

Rat defensins were purified and tested for in vitro bactericidal assay against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus (209P, Cowan I, Smith diffuse and Smith compact) were resistant to defensins, whereas Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Micrococcus lysodeikticus and Bacillus subtilis were less sensitive. Gram-negative bacteria, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa (mucoid and K) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (Chedid, 277, and 8N3 which were heavily capsulated, moderately capsulated and noncapsulated, respectively) were all very sensitive to defensins and killed within 20 min. Escherichia coli was moderately sensitive and the rough mutants of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Salmonella typhimurium LT2, such as Ra, Rc, Rd, and Re were equally sensitive to defensins, being killed within 40 min. Lysozyme did not show any bactericidal activity except against M. lysodeikticus and B. subtilis, whereas it enhanced the bactericidal activity of defensins against P. aeruginosa, E. coli, and K. pneumoniae and suppressed the killing activity of defensins against S. typhimurium and S. aureus. With regard to the three synthetic rabbit defensins, NP1, NP4, and NP5, NP1 showed strong bactericidal activity against K. pneumoniae 277, comparable to that of rat defensins. Neither NP4 nor NP5 showed any bactericidal activity, while NP5 rather enhanced the bactericidal activity of NP1 against K. pneumoniae 277.