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Melaleuca leucadendra Essential Oil Promotes Loss of Cell Membrane and Wall Integrity and Inhibits Bacterial Growth: An In Silico and In Vitro Approach

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Abstract

Essential oils are potential antimicrobial agents and can be used as active ingredients in the pharmaceutical, food and cosmetics industries. This work intends to evaluate the antibacterial activity and design a strategy for the proposition of the mechanism of action of Melaleuca leucadendra essential oil. Optimum concentration of the bacteria and the phase where they had the highest pathogenic activity were determined. Results show that for each microorganism it is necessary to use a different concentration at the time of adjusting the initial inoculum, and that the time to achieve exponential growth phase varies from one to the other. M. leucadendra essential oil demonstrated in vitro antimicrobial properties. This oil was chemically characterized and the main compounds were evaluated by their mechanism of antibacterial action based on structure–activity analysis. The mechanism is related to the increase of bacteria cell membrane permeability. This indication was confirmed by flow cytometry and transmission electronic microscopy. Thus, in silico analysis is an important tool in the search for new antimicrobial agents and these results showed that M. leucadendra essential oil may be useful on the development of new chemotherapies or food preservation systems.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the Center of Microscopy at the Federal University of Minas Gerais for providing equipment and technical support for experiments involving electron microscopy. This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior—Brazil (CAPES)—Finance Code 001.

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Author notes

  1. Jessica P. Bautista-Silva and Janaína B. Seibert have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Jessica P. Bautista-Silva, Janaína B. Seibert, Tatiane R. Amparo, Gustavo Henrique B. Souza & Orlando D. H. dos Santos

  2. Department of Pharmacy, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Ivanildes V. Rodrigues

  3. Department of Clinical Analysis, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil

    Luiz Fernando M. Teixeira

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  1. Jessica P. Bautista-Silva
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JPBS and JBS conducted experiments and wrote the manuscript. TRA and IVR contributed with analytical tools and analyzed data. LFMT, GHBS and ODHS designed research, wrote and revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Orlando D. H. dos Santos.

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Bautista-Silva, J.P., Seibert, J.B., Amparo, T.R. et al. Melaleuca leucadendra Essential Oil Promotes Loss of Cell Membrane and Wall Integrity and Inhibits Bacterial Growth: An In Silico and In Vitro Approach. Curr Microbiol 77, 2181–2191 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-020-02024-0

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