Open AccessInhibition of polymicrobial biofilm formation by saw palmetto oil, lauric acid and myristic acid
Author(s) -
Kim YongGuy,
Lee JinHyung,
Park Sunyoung,
Kim Sanghun,
Lee Jintae
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
microbial biotechnology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.287
H-Index - 74
ISSN - 1751-7915
DOI - 10.1111/1751-7915.13864
Subject(s) - myristic acid , biofilm , microbiology and biotechnology , lauric acid , candida albicans , staphylococcus aureus , biology , bacteria , escherichia coli , corpus albicans , fatty acid , biochemistry , gene , palmitic acid , genetics
Summary Biofilms are communities of bacteria, fungi or yeasts that form on diverse biotic or abiotic surfaces, and play important roles in pathogenesis and drug resistance. A generic saw palmetto oil inhibited biofilm formation by Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli O157:H7 and fungal Candida albicans without affecting their planktonic cell growth. Two main components of the oil, lauric acid and myristic acid, are responsible for this antibiofilm activity. Their antibiofilm activities were observed in dual‐species biofilms as well as three‐species biofilms of S. aureus , E. coli O157:H7 and C. albicans . Transcriptomic analysis showed that lauric acid and myristic acid repressed the expressions of haemolysin genes ( hla and hld ) in S. aureus , several biofilm‐related genes ( csgAB , fimH and flhD ) in E. coli and hypha cell wall gene HWP1 in C. albicans , which supported biofilm inhibition. Also, saw palmetto oil, lauric acid and myristic acid reduced virulence of three microbes in a nematode infection model and exhibited minimal cytotoxicity. Furthermore, combinatorial treatment of fatty acids and antibiotics showed synergistic antibacterial efficacy against S. aureus and E. coli O157:H7. These results demonstrate that saw palmetto oil and its main fatty acids might be useful for controlling bacterial infections as well as multispecies biofilms.