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The combinatorial applications of 1,4-naphthoquinone and tryptophan inhibit the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus

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Abstract

Microorganisms embedded within an extracellular polymeric matrix are known as biofilm. The extensive use of antibiotics to overcome the biofilm-linked challenges has led to the emergence of multidrug-resistant strains. Staphylococcus aureus is one such nosocomial pathogen that is known to cause biofilm-linked infections. Thus, novel strategies have been adopted in this study to inhibit the biofilm formation of S. aureus. Two natural compounds, namely, 1,4-naphthoquinone (a quinone derivative) and tryptophan (aromatic amino acid), have been chosen as they could independently show efficient antibiofilm activity. To enhance the antibiofilm potential, the two compounds were combined and tested against the same organism. Several experiments like crystal violet (CV) assay, protein estimation, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) extraction, and estimation of metabolic activity confirmed that the combination of the two compounds could significantly inhibit the biofilm formation of S. aureus. To comprehend the underlying mechanism, efforts were further directed to understand whether the two compounds could inhibit biofilm formation by compromising the cell surface hydrophobicity of the bacteria. The results revealed that the cell surface hydrophobicity got reduced by ~ 49% when the compounds were applied together. Thus, the combinations could show enhanced antibiofilm activity by attenuating cell surface hydrophobicity. Further studies revealed that the selected concentrations of the compounds could disintegrate (~ 70%) the pre-existing biofilm of the test bacteria without showing any antimicrobial activity. Hence, the combined application of tryptophan and 1,4-naphthoquinone could be used to inhibit the biofilm threats of S. aureus.

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Availability of data and material

The datasets produced during the present study are available from the corresponding author based on the logical request.

Code availability

Minitab 19 (trial version) was used to analyze the statistical observations.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere regards to Dr. Amlan Das (Research and Development Project Manager, National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, WB India), for sharing 1,4-naphthoquinone with us to perform the required research work. The authors would also express their sincere thanks to Dr. Anirban Das Gupta (Assistant Professor, Department of Biotechnology, The Neotia University) for correcting the language of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Microbial Ecology Research Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology, The Neotia University, Sarisha, West Bengal, 743368, India

    Payel Paul, Ritwik Roy, Sharmistha Das, Sarita Sarkar, Sudipta Chatterjee, Moumita Mallik, Poulomi Chakraborty & Prosun Tribedi

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Calcutta, 35 Ballygunge Circular Road, Kolkata, 700019, India

    Aditya Shukla

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  1. Payel Paul
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Contributions

PP, RR, SD, SS, SC, MM, AS, and PC performed the experiments, analyzed the results, and wrote the manuscript. PT conceived the idea, designed the experiments, analyzed the results, and rearranged the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Prosun Tribedi.

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Paul, P., Roy, R., Das, S. et al. The combinatorial applications of 1,4-naphthoquinone and tryptophan inhibit the biofilm formation of Staphylococcus aureus. Folia Microbiol 68, 801–811 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12223-023-01054-y

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