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Planta Med 2011; 77(2): 188-195
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1250145
Biological Screening
Original Papers
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Quorum Sensing Inhibitors of Staphylococcus aureus from Italian Medicinal Plants

Cassandra L. Quave1 , Lisa R. W. Plano2 , Bradley C. Bennett1
  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA
  • 2Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA
Further Information

Publication History

received January 24, 2010 revised June 23, 2010

accepted June 26, 2010

Publication Date:
19 July 2010 (online)

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Abstract

Morbidity and mortality estimates due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections continue to rise. Therapeutic options are limited by antibiotic resistance. Anti-pathogenic compounds, which inhibit quorum sensing (QS) pathways, may be a useful alternative to antibiotics. Staphylococcal QS is encoded by the agr locus and is responsible for the production of δ-hemolysin. Quantification of δ-hemolysin found in culture supernatants permits the analysis of agr activity at the translational rather than transcriptional level. We employed reversed phase high performance chromatographic (RP-HPLC) techniques to investigate the anti-QS activity of 168 extracts from 104 Italian plants through quantification of δ-hemolysin. Extracts from three medicinal plants (Ballota nigra, Castanea sativa, and Sambucus ebulus) exhibited a dose-dependent response in the production of δ-hemolysin, indicating anti-QS activity in a pathogenic MRSA isolate.

Key words

quorum sensing - MRSA - medicinal plants - δ‐toxin - δ‐hemolysin - agr

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Dr. Cassandra L. Quave

Department of Microbiology and Immunology
College of Medicine
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

4301 W. Markham St.

Mail Slot 511

Little Rock, AR 72205-7199

USA

Phone: + 17 8 62 39 80 46

Fax: + 15 0 16 86 53 59

Email: cassy.quave@gmail.com

    www.thieme-connect.de/ejournals/toc/plantamedica