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Planta Med 1996; 62(2): 122-125
DOI: 10.1055/s-2006-957832
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© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Mode of Antibacterial Action of Totarol, a Diterpene from Podocarpus nagi

Hiroyuki Haraguchi1 , Shingo Oike1 , Hisashi Muroi1 , Isao Kubo2
  • 1Faculty of Engineering, Fukuyama University, Gakuen-cho, Fukuyama 729-02, Japan
  • 2Department of Environmental Scinece, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3112, U.S.A.
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Publication History

1995

1995

Publication Date:
04 January 2007 (online)

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Abstract

The antimicrobial mechanism of totarol was studied using Pseudomonas aeruginosa IFO 3080. This diterpene inhibited oxygen consumption and respiratory-driven proton trans-location in whole cells, and oxidation of NADH in membrane preparation. NADH-cytochrome c reductase was inhibited by totarol while cytochrome c oxidase was not. NADH-DPIP reductase and NADH-CoQ reductase were also inhibited. The site of respiratory inhibition of totarol was thought to be near CoQ in the bacterial electron transport chain.

Key words

Podocarpus nagi - Podocarpaceae - totarol - antimicrobial action - respiratory inhibition - electron transport - Pseudomonas aeruginosa