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Prevention of quorum-sensing-mediated biofilm development and virulence factors production in Vibrio spp. by curcumin

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

The increasing occurrence of disease outbreaks caused by Vibrio spp. and the emergence of antibiotic resistance has led to a growing interest in finding alternative strategies to prevent vibriosis. Since the pathogenicity of vibrios is controlled in part by quorum-sensing (QS) system, interfering with this mechanism would prevent the pathogenicity of vibrios without developing resistance. Hence, a non-toxic phytochemical curcumin from Curcuma longa was assessed for its potential in reducing the production of QS-dependent virulence factors in Vibrio spp. The obtained results evidenced 88 % reduction in bioluminescence of Vibrio harveyi by curcumin. Further, curcumin exhibited a significant inhibition in alginate, exopolysaccharides, motility, biofilm development and other virulence factors production in Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Vibrio vulnificus and V. harveyi. In in vivo analysis, curcumin enhanced the survival rate of Artemia nauplii up to 67 % against V. harveyi infection by attenuating its QS-mediated virulence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thankfully 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). The authors also thankful to Department of Biotechnology (DBT), New Delhi(BT/PR4815/AAQ/3/587/2012) for the financial assistance. The technical assistance rendered by Mr. S. Gowrishankar, Department of Biotechnology, Alagappa University, in COMSTAT analysis is thankfully acknowledged. Financial assistance rendered by UGC to Sybiya Vasantha Packiavathy I.A., in the form of “UGC Research Fellowships in Sciences for Meritorious Students” [4–3/2006(BSR)/11–61/2008(BSR)] is also gratefully acknowledged. The authors also thank Dr. Claus Sternberg, DTU Systems Biology, Technical University of Denmark, for providing the COMSTAT software.

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

    Issac Abraham Sybiya Vasantha Packiavathy, Pitchaikani Sasikumar, Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian & Arumugam Veera Ravi

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  1. Issac Abraham Sybiya Vasantha Packiavathy
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  2. Pitchaikani Sasikumar
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  3. Shunmugiah Karutha Pandian
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Correspondence to Arumugam Veera Ravi.

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Packiavathy, I.A.S.V., Sasikumar, P., Pandian, S.K. et al. Prevention of quorum-sensing-mediated biofilm development and virulence factors production in Vibrio spp. by curcumin. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97, 10177–10187 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-4704-5

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