Assessment of Anti-Quorum Sensing Activity for Some Ornamental and Medicinal Plants Native to Egypt

Ahmed A Zaki

doi:10.3797/scipharm.1204-26

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of some plant extracts on the bacterial communication system, expressed as quorum sensing (QS) activity. Quorum sensing has a directly proportional effect on the amount of certain compounds, such as pigments, produced by the bacteria. Alcohol extracts of 23 ornamental and medicinal plants were tested for anti-QS activity by the Chromobacterium violaceum assay using the agar cup diffusion method. The screening revealed the anti-QS activity of six plants; namely the leaves of Adhatoda vasica Nees, Bauhinia purpurea L., Lantana camara L., Myoporum laetum G. Forst.; the fruits of Piper longum L.; and the aerial parts of Taraxacum officinale F.H. Wigg.

Highlights

Antimicrobial agents exhibit their activity through different mechanisms such as disrupting cell wall function or disrupting protein and DNA synthesis [1,2,3]
The plants used in this study are: Adhatoda vasica Nees, Ambrosia psilostachya DC., Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.) Spreng., Bauhinia purpurea L., Boswellia carterii Birdw., Caesalpinia gillesii Wall. ex Hook., Chelidonium majus L., Dalbergia sisso Roxb., Datura stramonium L., Dimorphotheca ecklonis DC., Duranta erecta var. alba (Mast.) Caro, Kigelia pinnata (Jacq.) DC., Kochia indica Wight., Lantana camara L., Myoporum laetum G
The antipathogenic potential activities of plant extracts were evaluated by examining the antiquorum sensing activity of such extracts using the Chromobacterium violaceum assays

Summary

Introduction

Antimicrobial agents exhibit their activity through different mechanisms such as disrupting cell wall function or disrupting protein and DNA synthesis [1,2,3]. The concentration of the autoinducers increases proportionally with the growth of a bacterial population and when it reaches a certain point, those signaling molecules diffuse back into the bacteria to regulate the transcription of specified genes This regulation results in the control of many physiological processes such as: antibiotics production [8, 9], differentiation of a biofilm [10,11,12], cell division [13, 14], sporulation [14], secretion of virulence factors [15, 16], and primary metabolism regulation [17,18,19]. Quorum sensing allows bacteria to control all essential processes, and could be considered as a promising and novel target for anti-pathogenic drugs, especially in combating bacterial infections caused by resistant strains. To the best of our knowledge, studies to evaluate this activity for these selected plants have not been reported before

Results and Discussion

14 Kochia indica Wigh

Conclusion