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Effect of kitasamycin and nitrofurantoin at subinhibitory concentrations on quorum sensing regulated traits of Chromobacterium violaceum

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Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is a mechanism of intercellular communication in bacteria that received substantial attention as alternate strategy for combating bacterial resistance and the development of new anti-infective agents. The present investigation reports on the assessment of using subinhibitory concentrations of antibiotics for the inhibition of QS-regulated phenotypes in Chromobacterium violaceum. Primarily, the minimum inhibitory concentrations of a series of antibiotics were determined by a microdilution method. Subsequently, the inhibitory effects of selected antibiotics on QS-regulated traits, namely violacein and chitinase production, biofilm formation and motility were evaluated using C. violaceum CV026 and C. violaceum ATCC 12472. Results revealed that kitasamycin and nitrofurantoin exhibited the highest quorum sensing inhibitory (QSI) activity. The amount of violacein produced by C. violaceum was significantly reduced in the presence of either kitasamycin or nitrofurantoin. Moreover, the chitinolytic activity, biofilm formation, and motility were also impaired in kitasamycin or nitrofurantoin-treated cultures. We further confirmed QSI effects at the molecular level using molecular docking and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results of molecular docking suggested that both antibiotics can interact with CviR transcriptional regulator of C. violaceum. Furthermore, RT-qPCR revealed the suppressive effect of kitasamycin and nitrofurantoin on five genes under the control of the CviI/CviR system: cviI, cviR, vioB, vioC, and vioD. Giving that kitasamycin and nitrofurantoin are being safely used for decades, this study emphasizes their potential application as antivirulence agents to disarm resistant bacterial strains, making their removal an easier task for the immune system or for another antibacterial agent.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Organization for Drug Control and Research, Giza, Egypt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, General Division of Basic Medical Sciences, National Organization for Drug Control and Research (NODCAR), Giza, 12611, Egypt

    Yasser Musa Ibrahim & Ahmed Megahed Abouwarda

  2. Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut, 71526, Egypt

    Farghaly Abdelhamid Omar

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  1. Yasser Musa Ibrahim
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  2. Ahmed Megahed Abouwarda
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  3. Farghaly Abdelhamid Omar
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Contributions

YI and FO conceived and designed the study; YI and AA performed the microbiology experimental work; FO conducted the molecular docking study; YI, AA, and FO interpreted the results; YI and FO wrote the article. All authors revised and approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yasser Musa Ibrahim.

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Ibrahim, Y.M., Abouwarda, A.M. & Omar, F.A. Effect of kitasamycin and nitrofurantoin at subinhibitory concentrations on quorum sensing regulated traits of Chromobacterium violaceum. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek 113, 1601–1615 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10482-020-01467-6

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