Abstract
As microalgae are producers of proteins, lipids, polysaccharides, pigments, vitamins and unique secondary metabolites, microalgal biotechnology has gained attention in recent decades. Microalgae can be used for biomass production and to obtain biotechnologically important products. Here, we present the application of a method of producing a natural, biologically active composite obtained from unicellular microalgae of the genus Planktochlorella sp. as a modulator of the growth of microorganisms that can be used in the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries by exploiting the phenomenon of photo-reprogramming of metabolism. The combination of red and blue light allows the collection of biomass with unique biochemical profiles, especially fatty acid composition (Patent Application P.429620). The ethanolic and water extracts of algae biomass inhibited the growth of a number of pathogenic bacteria, namely Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus PCM 458, Streptococcus pyogenes PCM 2318, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli PCM 2209 and Candida albicans ATCC 14053. The algal biocomposite obtained according to our procedure can be used also as a prebiotic supplement. The presented technology may allow the limitation of the use of antibiotics and environmentally harmful chemicals commonly used in preparations against Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli or Candida spp.
Highlights
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major public health problems of the 21st century, threatening the effective prevention and treatment of an increasing number of infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms [1]
Numerous literature data confirm the increase in infections with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or multidrug-resistant Candida albicans strains [18,19,20]
The study of correlation coefficients between the observed antimicrobial activity and fatty acids (FAs) composition enabled the selection of lauric acid (C12:0), myristic acid (C14:0), and stearic acid (C18:0) as modulators of growth of mainly Gram-negative bacteria, i.e., Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli PCM 2209
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the major public health problems of the 21st century, threatening the effective prevention and treatment of an increasing number of infections caused by pathogenic microorganisms [1]. There has been a great trend in the research of microalgae, as well as other marine microorganisms, as an alternative source of antibiotics and preservatives. This is important because microalgae have evolved in extremely competitive environments and have had to develop different tolerance and defense strategies against pathogenic microorganisms, predation, herbivory and competition for space in order to survive. In the case of marine algae, it was shown that increased antimicrobial activity correlated with the presence of acrylic acid. It should be emphasized that a serious defect in biomasses isolated from marine microalgae, as opposed to freshwater algae, is their ability to accumulate heavy metal elements [5]
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