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Abstract
Mycobacterium ulcerans, the etiologic agent of Buruli ulcer, has been detected on aquatic plants in endemic tropical regions. Here, we tested the effect of several tropical plant extracts on the growth of M. ulcerans and the closely related Mycobacterium marinum. M. ulcerans and M. marinum were inoculated on Middlebrook 7H11 medium with and without extracts from tropical aquatic plants, including Ammannia gracilis, Crinum calamistratum, Echinodorus africanus, Vallisneria nana and Vallisneria torta. Delay of detection of the first colony and the number of colonies at day 7 (M. marinum) or day 16 (M. ulcerans) were used as endpoints. The first M. ulcerans colonies were detected at 8 ± 0 days on control Middlebrook 7H11 medium, 6.34 ± 0.75 days on A. gracilis-enriched medium (p<0.01), 6 ± 1 days on E. africanus- and V. torta-enriched media (p<0.01), 6 ± 0 days on V. nana-enriched medium (p<0.01) and 5.67 ± 0.47 days on C. calamistratum-enriched medium (p<0.01). Furthermore, the number of detected colonies was significantly increased in C. calamistratum- and E. africanus-enriched media at each time point compared to Middlebrook 7H11 (p<0.05). V. nana- and V. torta-enriched media significantly increased the number of detected colonies starting from day 6 and day 10, respectively (p<0.001). At the opposite, A. gracilis-enriched medium significantly decreased the number of detected colonies starting from day 8 PI (p<0.05). In conclusion, some aquatic plant extracts, could be added as adjuvants to the Middlebrook 7H11 medium for the culturing of M. marinum and M. ulcerans.
Highlights
Buruli Ulcer is the third most common mycobacteriosis in the world [1]
Buruli ulcer is caused by the acidfast bacilli Mycobacterium ulcerans; genomic analysis of M. ulcerans indicated that it emerged from Mycobacterium marinum [2,3] after the acquisition of a mycolactone-toxin-encoding plasmid [4]
We further explored whether the growth of M. ulcerans and M. marinum was modulated by aquatic plants prevalent in some Buruli ulcer regions
Summary
It is responsible for skin ulcers that lead to subcutaneous and bone infections and eventually causes necrosis with potentially debilitating scars and amputations [1]. This difficult-to-treat infection is endemic in tropical regions of 33 countries, mainly within Central and Western Africa, in Victoria and Queensland states in Australia and at lower rates in South America and Asia [1]. Buruli ulcer is caused by the acidfast bacilli Mycobacterium ulcerans; genomic analysis of M. ulcerans indicated that it emerged from Mycobacterium marinum [2,3] after the acquisition of a mycolactone-toxin-encoding plasmid [4]. M. marinum causes skin granulomas, including vivarium granuloma [7,8]
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