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Inhibition of Quorum Sensing Mediated Virulence Factors Production in Urinary Pathogen Serratia marcescens PS1 by Marine Sponges

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Abstract

The focal intent of this study was to find out an alternative strategy for the antibiotic usage against bacterial infections. The quorum sensing inhibitory (QSI) activity of marine sponges collected from Palk Bay, India was evaluated against acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) mediated violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum (ATCC 12472), CV026 and virulence gene expressions in clinical isolate Serratia marcescens PS1. Out of 29 marine sponges tested, the methanol extracts of Aphrocallistes bocagei (TS 8), Haliclona (Gellius) megastoma (TS 25) and Clathria atrasanguinea (TS 27) inhibited the AHL mediated violacein production in C. violaceum (ATCC 12472) and CV026. Further, these sponge extracts inhibited the AHL dependent prodigiosin pigment, virulence enzymes such as protease, hemolysin production and biofilm formation in S. marcescens PS1. However, these sponge extracts were not inhibitory to bacterial growth, which reveals the fact that the QSI activity of these extracts was not related to static or killing effects on bacteria. Based on the obtained results, it is envisaged that the marine sponges could pave the way to prevent quorum sensing (QS) mediated bacterial infections.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the computational and bioinformatics facility provided by the Alagappa University Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility (funded by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Grant No. BT/BI/25/001/2006). A. Annapoorani gratefully acknowledges the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi for the financial assistance rendered [CSIR SRF No. 9/688 (0014)/2011]. We also extend our thanks to Dr. C. Ragunathan, Zoological Survey of India, Port Blair, Andaman, India for the identification of sponges.

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  1. Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India

    Angusamy Annapoorani, Abdul Karim Kamil Abdul Jabbar, Syed Khadar Syed Musthafa, Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian & Arumugam Veera Ravi

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  1. Angusamy Annapoorani
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  2. Abdul Karim Kamil Abdul Jabbar
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  3. Syed Khadar Syed Musthafa
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  4. Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
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  5. Arumugam Veera Ravi
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Correspondence to Arumugam Veera Ravi.

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Annapoorani, A., Jabbar, A.K.K.A., Musthafa, S.K.S. et al. Inhibition of Quorum Sensing Mediated Virulence Factors Production in Urinary Pathogen Serratia marcescens PS1 by Marine Sponges. Indian J Microbiol 52, 160–166 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12088-012-0272-0

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