Abstract
Lipids are one of the primary metabolites of microalgae and cyanobacteria, which enrich their utility in the pharmaceutical, feed, cosmetic, and chemistry sectors. This work describes the isolation, structural elucidation, and the antibiotic and antibiofilm activities of diverse lipids produced by different microalgae and cyanobacteria strains from two European collections (ACOI and LEGE-CC). Three microalgae strains and one cyanobacteria strain were selected for their antibacterial and/or antibiofilm activity after the screening of about 600 strains carried out under the NoMorFilm European project. The total organic extracts were firstly fractionated using solid phase extraction methods, and the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimal biofilm inhibitory concentration against an array of human pathogens were determined. The isolation was carried out by bioassay-guided HPLC-DAD purification, and the structure of the isolated molecules responsible for the observed activities was determined by HPLC-HRESIMS and NMR methods. Sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerol, monogalactosylmonoacylglycerol, sulfoquinovosylmonoacylglycerol, α-linolenic acid, hexadeca-4,7,10,13-tetraenoic acid (HDTA), palmitoleic acid, and lysophosphatidylcholine were found among the different active sub-fractions selected. In conclusion, cyanobacteria and microalgae produce a great variety of lipids with antibiotic and antibiofilm activity against the most important pathogens causing severe infections in humans. The use of these lipids in clinical treatments alone or in combination with antibiotics may provide an alternative to the current treatments.
Highlights
Nowadays, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major public health challenges.The alarming decline in the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments due to the increasing resistance acquired by pathogens has put the world in a global AMR crisis [1,2]
The microalgae and cyanobacteria strains from the Coimbra Collection of Algae (ACOI) and the Blue Biotechnology and Ecotoxicology Culture Collection (LEGE-CC) collections were selected among 600 strains after the screening of the antibiotic and antibiofilm activities of total cellular extracts in the NoMorFilm H2020 project
The antibiofilm and antibacterial activities of these extracts were analyzed against S. aureus, S. epidermidis, K. pneumoniae, E. cloacae, P. aeruginosa, E. coli, C. parapsilosis, C. albicans, and Coagulase-negative Sthaphylococcus (CoNS) strains, and those showing both activities were further studied
Summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major public health challenges.The alarming decline in the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments due to the increasing resistance acquired by pathogens has put the world in a global AMR crisis [1,2]. Microalgae (photosynthetic eukaryotes) and cyanobacteria (photosynthetic prokaryotes) represent a large part of the biodiversity of these aquatic environments as they are at the base of their food chain [3,4]. These microorganisms can adapt to many environments, including extreme ones characterized by the presence of toxic substances or extreme temperature, values of pH, or salinity. This feature enables the development of different defense mechanisms and production of bioactive compounds that allow them to survive in such extreme conditions [2,4,5,6]. The chemical diversity of these metabolites, combined with their activity inhibiting multiple tolerant pathogens’ growth [3], place these microorganisms at the forefront of drug discovery (the process associated with the screening and discovery of bioactive molecules and their subsequent development as pharmaceuticals) and antimicrobial resistance research
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