Open AccessAntibacterial activity of long‐chain fatty alcohols against mycobacteria
Author(s) -
Mukherjee Koushik,
Tribedi Prosun,
Mukhopadhyay Balaram,
Sil Alok Kumar
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/1574-6968.12043
Subject(s) - mycobacterium smegmatis , antimycobacterial , tuberculosis , mycobacterium tuberculosis , context (archaeology) , microbiology and biotechnology , mycobacterium , bedaquiline , biology , bacteria , mycolic acid , isoniazid , chemistry , medicine , pathology , paleontology , genetics
Tuberculosis is caused by the bacterium M ycobacterium tuberculosis and results in innumerable deaths across the world. The emergence of multidrug‐resistant and extremely drug‐resistant tuberculosis strains and its coinfection with HIV has made tuberculosis more difficult to treat. Therefore, new antimycobacterial agent(s) for both therapy and disinfection are urgently required. In this context the present study describes the antibacterial property of long‐chain fatty alcohols against mycobacteria. The antimycobacterial activities of alcohols with chain length ranging from C 5 to C 13 were examined against M ycobacterium smegmatis mc 2 155 and M . tuberculosis H 37 R v . The best activity was found with one with a C 10 chain length. This bactericidal activity can partly be attributed to its ability to damage the robust and complex cell envelope of M ycobacteria . Moreover, our study reveals the ability of decanol to attenuate biofilm formation by M . smegmatis . This knowledge can be used to develop new therapeutics and disinfectants against mycobacteria.