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Citral and its derivatives inhibit quorum sensing and biofilm formation in Chromobacterium violaceum

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Abstract

With an upsurge in multidrug resistant bacteria backed by biofilm defence armours, there is a desperate need of new antibiotics with a non-traditional mechanism of action. Targeting bacteria by misguiding them or halting their communication is a new approach that could offer a new way to combat the multidrug resistance problem. Quorum sensing is considered to be the achilles heel of bacteria that has a lot to offer. Since, both quorum sensing and biofilm formation have been related to drug resistance and pathogenicity, in this study we synthesised new derivatives of citral with antiquorum sensing and biofilm disrupting properties. We previously reported antimicrobial and antiquorum sensing activity of citral and herein we report the synthesis and evaluation of citral and its derivatives (CD1-CD3) for antibacterial, antibiofilm and antiquorum sensing potential against Chromobacterium violaceum using standard methods. Preliminary results revealed that CD1 is the most active of all the derivatives. Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of antiquorum sensing activity at sub-inhibitory concentrations of these compounds also revealed high activity for CD1 followed by CD2, CD3 and citral. These compounds also inhibit biofilm formation at subinhibitory concentrations without causing any bacterial growth inhibition. These results were replicated by RT-qPCR with down regulation of the quorum sensing genes when C. violaceum was treated with these test compounds. Overall, the results are quite encouraging, revealing that biofilm and quorum sensing are interrelated processes and also indicating the potential of these derivatives to impede bacterial communication and biofilm formation.

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Funding

AA acknowledges grant support from the South African National Research Foundation (NRF) Research Development Grant for Y-Rated Researchers (RDYR180418322304; Grant No: 116339), and University Research Committee Grant for 2019—Friedel Sellschop Award (Grant No: AZMD019).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, School of Pathology, Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Nikayla Batohi, Shabir Ahmad Lone & Aijaz Ahmad

  2. Anatomical Pathology, School of Pathology, Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Musa Marimani

  3. Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, 21589, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    Mohmmad Younus Wani & Abdullah Saad Al-Bogami

  4. Division of Infection Control, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, National Health Laboratory Service, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Aijaz Ahmad

Authors
  1. Nikayla Batohi
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  2. Shabir Ahmad Lone
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  3. Musa Marimani
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  4. Mohmmad Younus Wani
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  5. Abdullah Saad Al-Bogami
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  6. Aijaz Ahmad
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Correspondence to Mohmmad Younus Wani or Aijaz Ahmad.

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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

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Batohi, N., Lone, S.A., Marimani, M. et al. Citral and its derivatives inhibit quorum sensing and biofilm formation in Chromobacterium violaceum. Arch Microbiol 203, 1451–1459 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-020-02127-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-020-02127-z

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