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Antibiotics
Special Issues
Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials
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Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials

A special issue of Antibiotics (ISSN 2079-6382). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanism and Evolution of Antibiotic Resistance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2021) | Viewed by 16238

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Kandasamy Saravanakumar

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Bio Health Convergence, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Republic of Korea
Interests: microbial biotechnology; fungal biology; natural products; biomaterials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Myeong-Hyeon Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Biomedical Sciences, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon 24341, Korea
Interests: plant biotechnology; bio-active material; molecular biology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The emergence of new and existing highly virulent pathogens and their antibiotic resistance have been encountered as significant problems in bio-health therapeutics. Potential antimicrobials are predominantly available in natural resources (microorganism, plants, and animals) and are safer than those of synthetic origin. Some studies have reported that natural molecules are effective against deadly pathogens. However, those studies are preliminary and unsuccessful at the host level due to the consequences of inadequate characterization and molecular elucidation that lead to failure in clinical clearance. Thus, extensive molecular studies are a prerequisite in natural antimicrobials research. Therefore, this Special Issue aims to focus on the keen evaluation of antimicrobials from natural resources, applying advanced molecular techniques and animal experiments, including but not limited in scope to:

  • The isolation of antimicrobials from natural resources;
  • Antimicrobial resistance;
  • Pharmacology;
  • Antimicrobial-related nanomaterials;
  • Molecular and structural elucidation

Dr. Kandasamy Saravanakumar
Prof. Dr. Myeong-Hyeon Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Antimicrobials
  • Virulence
  • Biomolecules
  • Functional evaluation
  • Chemistry

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research

2 pages, 152 KiB  
Editorial
Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials
by Kandasamy Saravanakumar, Kumar Vishven Naveen and Myeong-Hyeon Wang
Antibiotics 2021, 10(7), 765; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10070765 - 23 Jun 2021
Viewed by 1230
Abstract
Microbial infections pose a continuous threat to human health and healthcare systems around the globe [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

36 pages, 3880 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Immunological Profiles of SARS-CoV-2 Variants in the COVID-19 Pandemic Trends: An Immunoinformatics Approach
by Jenifer Mallavarpu Ambrose, Vishnu Priya Veeraraghavan, Malathi Kullappan, Poongodi Chellapandiyan, Surapaneni Krishna Mohan and Vivek Anand Manivel
Antibiotics 2021, 10(5), 535; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10050535 - 06 May 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4349
Abstract
The current dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic have become a serious concern with the emergence of a series of mutant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unlike the previous strain, it is reported that the descendants are associated with increased risk of transmission yet [...] Read more.
The current dynamics of the COVID-19 pandemic have become a serious concern with the emergence of a series of mutant variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unlike the previous strain, it is reported that the descendants are associated with increased risk of transmission yet causing less impact in terms of hospital admission, the severity of illness, or mortality. Moreover, the vaccine efficacy is also not believed to vary among the population depending on the variants of the virus and ethnicity. It has been determined that the mutations recorded in the spike gene and protein of the newly evolved viruses are specificallyresponsible for this transformation in the behavior of the virus and its disease condition. Hence, this study aimed to compare the immunogenic profiles of the spike protein from the latest variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus concerning the probability of COVID-19 severity. Genome sequences of the latest SARS-CoV-2 variants were obtained from GISAID and NCBI repositories. The translated protein sequences were run against T-cell and B-cell epitope prediction tools. Subsequently, antigenicity, immunogenicity, allergenicity, toxicity, and conservancy of the identified epitopes were ascertained using various prediction servers. Only the non-allergic and non-toxic potential epitopes were matched for population relevance by using the Human Leucocyte Antigen population registry in IEDB. Finally, the selected epitopes were validated by docking and simulation studies. The evaluated immunological parameters would concurrently reveal the severity of COVID-19, determining the infection rate of the pathogen. Our immunoinformatics approach disclosed that spike protein of the five variants was capable of forming potential T and B-cell epitopes with varying immune responses. Although the Wuhan strain showed a high number of epitope/HLA combinations, relatively less antigenicity and higher immunogenicity results in poor neutralizing capacity, which could be associated with increased disease severity. Our data demonstrate that increased viral antigenicity with moderate to high immunogenicity, and several potential epitope/HLA combinations in England strain, the USA, India, and South Africa variants, could possess a high neutralizing ability. Therefore, our findings reinforce that the newly circulating variants of SARS-CoV-2 might be associated with more infectiousness and less severe disease condition despite their greater viremia, as reported in the recent COVID-19 cases, whichconsequently determine their increased epidemiological fitness. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials)
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20 pages, 8485 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial and Wound Healing Properties of FeO Fabricated Chitosan/PVA Nanocomposite Sponge
by Anbazhagan Sathiyaseelan, Kandasamy Saravanakumar, Arokia Vijay Anand Mariadoss and Myeong-Hyeon Wang
Antibiotics 2021, 10(5), 524; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10050524 - 03 May 2021
Cited by 51 | Viewed by 3790
Abstract
Diabetic and anemia-associated diabetic wounds increase the considerable morbidity and mortality in people, as reported by clinical studies. However, no anemia-associated diabetic wound dressing materials have been developed until now. Hence, this study aimed to develop a nanocomposite scaffold composed of chitosan (CS), [...] Read more.
Diabetic and anemia-associated diabetic wounds increase the considerable morbidity and mortality in people, as reported by clinical studies. However, no anemia-associated diabetic wound dressing materials have been developed until now. Hence, this study aimed to develop a nanocomposite scaffold composed of chitosan (CS), poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and phytogenic iron oxide nanoparticles (FeO NPs), for accelerated anemia-associated diabetic wound healing. The aqueous leaves extract of Pinus densiflora (PD) was utilized for the synthesis of iron oxide nanoparticles (FeO NPs). TEM and elemental analysis confirmed smaller size PD-FeO NPs (<50 nm) synthesis with the combination of iron and oxide. In addition, in vitro biological studies displayed the moderate antioxidant, antidiabetic activities, and considerable antibacterial activity of PD-FeO NPs. Further, the different concentrations of PD-FeO NPs (0.01, 0.03, and 0.05%) incorporated CS/PVA nanocomposites sponges were developed by the freeze-drying method. The porous structured morphology and the presence of PD-FeO NPs were observed under FE-SEM. Among nanocomposite sponges, PD-FeO NPs (0.01%) incorporated CS/PVA sponges were further chosen for the in vitro wound-healing assay, based on the porous and water sorption nature. Furthermore, the in vitro wound-healing assay revealed that PD-FeO NPs (0.01%) incorporated CS/PVA has significantly increased the cell proliferation in HEK293 cells. In conclusion, the CS/PVA-PD-FeO NPs (0.01%) sponge would be recommended for diabetic wound dressing after a detailed in vivo evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials)
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18 pages, 4438 KiB  
Article
Facile In-Situ Fabrication of a Ternary ZnO/TiO2/Ag Nanocomposite for Enhanced Bactericidal and Biocompatibility Properties
by Priyadarshini Sakthi Mohan, Faridah Sonsuddin, Azizah Binti Mainal, Rosiyah Yahya, Gopinath Venkatraman, Jamuna Vadivelu, Dunia A. Al-Farraj, Amal M. Al-Mohaimeed and Khaloud Mohammed Alarjani
Antibiotics 2021, 10(1), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics10010086 - 18 Jan 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2544
Abstract
This paper presents for the first time a successful fabrication of ternary ZnO/TiO2/Ag nanocomposites consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO), titania (TiO2) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesised using Morinda citrifolia fruit (MCF) extract. ZnONPs were synthesised using the co-precipitation [...] Read more.
This paper presents for the first time a successful fabrication of ternary ZnO/TiO2/Ag nanocomposites consisting of zinc oxide (ZnO), titania (TiO2) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles (NPs) synthesised using Morinda citrifolia fruit (MCF) extract. ZnONPs were synthesised using the co-precipitation method, and TiO2 and Ag were introduced into the precursor solutions under microwave irradiation to obtain ZnO/TiO2/Ag nanocomposites (NCs). This material demonstrated enhanced bactericidal effect towards bacterial pathogens compared to that of the binary TiO2/Ag, Ag and TiO2 alone. In vitro cytotoxicity results of the as-synthesised ZnO/TiO2/AgNCs on RAW 264.7 macrophages and A549 cell lines revealed a negative role in cytotoxicity, but contributed astoundingly towards antimicrobials as compared of Ag alone and binary Ag/TiO2. This study shows that the resultant ternary metal/bi-semiconductor nanocomposites may provide a therapeutic strategy for the eradication of bacterial pathogens without affecting the healthy mammalian cells. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials)
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15 pages, 547 KiB  
Article
Virulence Characteristics and Antibiotic Resistance Profiles of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates from Diverse Sources
by Momna Rubab and Deog-Hwan Oh
Antibiotics 2020, 9(9), 587; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9090587 - 08 Sep 2020
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3273
Abstract
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an enteric pathogen that causes several gastrointestinal ailments in humans across the world. STEC’s ability to cause ailment is attributed to the presence of a broad range of known and putative virulence factors (VFs) including those that [...] Read more.
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is an enteric pathogen that causes several gastrointestinal ailments in humans across the world. STEC’s ability to cause ailment is attributed to the presence of a broad range of known and putative virulence factors (VFs) including those that encode Shiga toxins. A total of 51 E. coli strains belonging to serogroups O26, O45, O103, O104, O113, O121, O145, and O157 were tested for the presence of nine VFs via PCR and for their susceptibility to 17 frequently used antibiotics using the disc diffusion method. The isolates belonged to eight different serotypes, including eight O serogroups and 12 H types. The frequency of the presence of key VFs were stx1 (76.47%), stx2 (86.27%), eae (100%), ehxA (98.03%), nleA (100%), ureC (94.11%), iha (96.07%), subA (9.80%), and saa (94.11%) in the E. coli strains. All E. coli strains carried seven or more distinct VFs and, among these, four isolates harbored all tested VFs. In addition, all E. coli strains had a high degree of antibiotic resistance and were multidrug resistant (MDR). These results show a high incidence frequency of VFs and heterogeneity of VFs and MDR profiles of E. coli strains. Moreover, half of the E. coli isolates (74.5%) were resistant to > 9 classes of antibiotics (more than 50% of the tested antibiotics). Thus, our findings highlight the importance of appropriate epidemiological and microbiological surveillance and control measures to prevent STEC disease in humans worldwide. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Discovery and Functional Evaluation of Antimicrobials)
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