Antimicrobial Effects of Bioactive Compounds: Phytoproducts-Based Fight against Pathogens

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2024 | Viewed by 4776

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Science and Technology, Università degli Studi del Sannio, Benevento, Italy
Interests: natural antimicrobials; antimicrobial resistance; microbial biofilm; microbiological food safety

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Guest Editor
Department of Molecular Medicine and Medical Biotechnology, University of Napoli Federico II, Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy
Interests: antimicrobial activity of natural compounds; animal and cellular models of infection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Science and Technology, Università degli Studi del Sannio di Benevento, Benevento, Italy
Interests: natural antimicrobials; antimicrobial resistance; microbial biofilm; microbiological food safety

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The high growth of the world population, increases in tourist, commercial and cultural exchanges around the world, and the contribution of climate change strongly favor the global spread of pathogens. The rapid spread of diseases caused by emerging and already known pathogens—which are increasingly multidrug-resistant or even pandrug-resistant—has highlighted the desperate need for adequate health preparation to face global health emergencies such as pandemics and antimicrobial resistance.

For some decades, antimicrobials have allowed us to control infectious diseases that were once rapidly lethal, significantly increasing life expectancy. Unfortunately, in recent years, there has been a drastic reduction in the effectiveness of conventionally used antimicrobial therapies. Currently, dying from cystitis or an infected wound caused by superbacteria is no longer such a remote possibility, even in high-income countries.

Scientific research must respond to these global challenges with the rapid development of effective and safe therapeutic and preventive tools.

Thus, we look with considerable interest at the plant world in search of natural products such as botanical extracts, essential oils, and other bioactive components with antimicrobial 

properties. There are numerous data in the literature in this regard, but there is certainly still much to study before some of these substances become a therapeutic reality.

In this volume, the most interesting articles on bioactive phytocompounds with antimicrobial activity will be collected with the aim of developing valid tools in the fight against pathogens.

Dr. Caterina Pagliarulo
Dr. Roberta Colicchio
Dr. Daniela Sateriale
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • pathogens agents
  • natural antimicrobials
  • bioactive phytoproducts

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 1616 KiB  
Article
Vine-Winery Byproducts as Precious Resource of Natural Antimicrobials: In Vitro Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Grape Pomace Extracts against Foodborne Pathogens
by Daniela Sateriale, Giuseppina Forgione, Martina Di Rosario, Chiara Pagliuca, Roberta Colicchio, Paola Salvatore, Marina Paolucci and Caterina Pagliarulo
Microorganisms 2024, 12(3), 437; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12030437 - 21 Feb 2024
Viewed by 616
Abstract
Grape pomace is the main by-product of vine-winery chains. It requires adequate treatment and disposal but is also an economically underused source of bioactive plant secondary metabolites. This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial effects of polyphenolic extracts from Aglianico (Vitis vinifera [...] Read more.
Grape pomace is the main by-product of vine-winery chains. It requires adequate treatment and disposal but is also an economically underused source of bioactive plant secondary metabolites. This study aimed to investigate the antibacterial effects of polyphenolic extracts from Aglianico (Vitis vinifera L.) grape pomace. In particular, hydroethanolic extracts obtained via an ultrasonic-assisted extraction technique were selected for antimicrobial tests. The extracts were screened for their antibacterial effects against foodborne pathogens that were both Gram-positive, in the case of Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus, and Gram-negative, in the case of Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium, showing variable bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects. In addition, our results demonstrated that the tested grape pomace extracts can reduce the inhibitory concentration of standard antibiotics. Interestingly, selected extracts inhibited biofilm development by S. aureus and B. cereus. Overall, these new insights into the antibacterial properties of grape pomace extracts may represent a relevant step in the design of novel therapeutic tools to tackle foodborne diseases, and in the management of resistant biofilm-related infections. Full article
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33 pages, 5487 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Antibacterial Activity of Phytochemicals against Common Foodborne Pathogens and Potential for Selection of Resistance
by Ryan Sweet, Catherine Booth, Kathryn Gotts, Stephen F. Grove, Paul A. Kroon and Mark Webber
Microorganisms 2023, 11(10), 2495; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11102495 - 05 Oct 2023
Viewed by 989
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is now commonly observed in bacterial isolates from multiple settings, compromising the efficacy of current antimicrobial agents. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement for efficacious novel antimicrobials to be used as therapeutics, prophylactically or as preservatives. One promising source of novel [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial resistance is now commonly observed in bacterial isolates from multiple settings, compromising the efficacy of current antimicrobial agents. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement for efficacious novel antimicrobials to be used as therapeutics, prophylactically or as preservatives. One promising source of novel antimicrobial chemicals is phytochemicals, which are secondary metabolites produced by plants for numerous purposes, including antimicrobial defence. In this report, we compare the bioactivity of a range of phytochemical compounds, testing their ability to directly inhibit growth or to potentiate other antimicrobials against Salmonella enterica Typhimurium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. We found that nine compounds displayed consistent bioactivity either as direct antimicrobials or as potentiators. Thymol at 0.5 mg/mL showed the greatest antimicrobial effect and significantly reduced the growth of all species, reducing viable cell populations by 66.8%, 43.2%, 29.5%, and 70.2% against S. enterica Typhimurium, S. aureus, P. aeruginosa, and L. monocytogenes, respectively. Selection of mutants with decreased susceptibility to thymol was possible for three of the pathogens, at a calculated rate of 3.77 × 10−8, and characterisation of S. enterica Typhimurium mutants showed a low-level MDR phenotype due to over-expression of the major efflux system AcrAB-TolC. These data show that phytochemicals can have strong antimicrobial activity, but emergence of resistance should be evaluated in any further development. Full article
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13 pages, 1635 KiB  
Article
Antimicrobial and Antivirulence Activities of Carvacrol against Pathogenic Aeromonas hydrophila
by Junwei Wang, Ting Qin, Kai Chen, Liangkun Pan, Jun Xie and Bingwen Xi
Microorganisms 2022, 10(11), 2170; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10112170 - 31 Oct 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2588
Abstract
Aeromonas hydrophila is a ubiquitous Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen in the freshwater environment and the most common cause of bacterial septicemia in aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the impact of carvacrol, a natural monoterpenoid found in herbs, on the virulence of A. hydrophila [...] Read more.
Aeromonas hydrophila is a ubiquitous Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen in the freshwater environment and the most common cause of bacterial septicemia in aquaculture. In this study, we investigated the impact of carvacrol, a natural monoterpenoid found in herbs, on the virulence of A. hydrophila in vitro and the antibacterial effect in combination with antibiotics. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of carvacrol against A. hydrophila NJ-35 were 125 µg/mL and 250 µg/mL, respectively. Carvacrol could inhibit the virulence factors (biofilm, protease, exopolysaccharide, and hemolysin) of A. hydrophila, and the antibiofilm potential of carvacrol was further verified by microscopic detection. Transcriptional analyses showed that the gene expression of flaB, ompA, aha, ahp, ela, act, aerA, AhyR, and hly were marked as downregulated. The checkerboard assay results showed that carvacrol did not have an antagonistic effect in combination with antibiotics (florfenicol, enrofloxacin, thiamphenicol, or doxycycline hydrochloride) commonly used in aquaculture but possessed an additive-synergistic effect with neomycin sulfate. In vivo studies demonstrated that carvacrol protected grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) from A. hydrophila infection. Our results indicated that carvacrol possessed significant anti-bacterial and anti-virulence effects on A. hydrophila. Full article
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