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Penicillium piceum: a potential source for antimicrobial agents and β-lactamase inhibitors

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Abstract

There is an urgent need to discover new anti-microbial agents that can overcome the increasing antibiotic resistance posed by multidrug resistant, β-lactamase producing bacteria. β-Lactam antibiotics are structurally related through the presence of a core β-lactam ring. Resistant pathogens are able to produce β-lactamase enzymes that hydrolyze the β-lactam ring and inactivate the antibiotic. One approach to counteract this resistance is to develop β-lactamase inhibitors, which, on administration with β-lactams, restores the antibiotic activity for its continued clinical use. In the present study, a fungal Penicillium strain was isolated, identified and characterized for its antimicrobial and β-lactamase inhibition activities. The strain was identified as Penicillium piceum and was grown in suitable media under submerged cultivation. The antibacterial activity was observed against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Higher antimicrobial activity was observed against gram-positive bacteria as compared to gram-negative bacteria. A certain amount of antifungal activity was also observed against the fungal strains of Penicilium chrysogenum, Rhizopus stolonifer, Fusarium moniliforme, Aspergillus niger, Giberella fujikuroi and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Iodometric and bioassay analyses confirmed that P. piceum produced β-lactamase inhibitors having activity against penicillinase (Bacillus cereus). Solvent-solvent extraction with butanol yielded a three-fold increase in β-lactamase inhibition activity. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis of the concentrated product proved it to be a single compound. The infrared (IR) spectrum of the compound was compared with the reference IR spectra of sulbactam sodium, tazobactam and potassium clavulanate. It was found to be different thereby inferring the need for extensive structural elucidation for future applications.

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Abbreviations

CD:

Czapek Dox

HPLC:

high-performance liquid chromatography

IR:

infrared

OD:

optical density

SD:

Sabouraud dextrose

YPD:

yeast extract-peptone-dextrose

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Acknowledgements

The authors would to like to express their gratitude and thanks to Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth (DPU) and Dr. D.Y. Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute, Tathawade, Pune for providing the required research facilities. The authors are also thankful to Dr. R.K. Nanda, Padmashree from Dr. D.Y. Patil Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, Pune, for providing the FTIR facility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dr. D.Y. Patil Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Institute, Dr. D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, 411033, Pune, Maharashtra, India

    Saurabh Dubey, Ketki Patil, Pooja Sharma & Ghanshyam D. Tandon

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  1. Saurabh Dubey
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  2. Ketki Patil
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  3. Pooja Sharma
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  4. Ghanshyam D. Tandon
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Correspondence to Ghanshyam D. Tandon.

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Based on a contribution presented at the International Conference on Advances in Biotechnology & Bioinformatics (ICABB-2013), November 25–27, 2013, Pune, Maharashtra, India

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Dubey, S., Patil, K., Sharma, P. et al. Penicillium piceum: a potential source for antimicrobial agents and β-lactamase inhibitors. Biologia 70, 19–26 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1515/biolog-2015-0013

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