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. 2018 Oct 17;23(10):2672.
doi: 10.3390/molecules23102672.

Chromobacterium violaceum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1: Models for Evaluating Anti-Quorum Sensing Activity of Melaleuca alternifolia Essential Oil and Its Main Component Terpinen-4-ol

Emira Noumi  1   2 , Abderrahmen Merghni  3   4 , Mousa M Alreshidi  5 , Ons Haddad  6 , Gültekin Akmadar  7 , Laura De Martino  8 , Maha Mastouri  9 , Ozgur Ceylan  10 , Mejdi Snoussi  11   12 , Abdulbasit Al-Sieni  13 , Vincenzo De Feo  14
Affiliations

Chromobacterium violaceum and Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1: Models for Evaluating Anti-Quorum Sensing Activity of Melaleuca alternifolia Essential Oil and Its Main Component Terpinen-4-ol

Emira Noumi et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The problem of antibiotic resistance among pathogens encourages searching for novel active molecules. The aim of the research was to assay the anti-quorum sensing (anti-QS) and antibiofilm potential of Melaleuca alternifolia essential oil and its main constituent, terpinen-4-ol, to prevent the infections due to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains as an alternate to antibiotics. The tea tree oil (TTO) was evaluated for its potential in inhibiting QS-dependent phenomena such as violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum, swarming motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, and biofilm formation in MRSA strains on glass. The results showed that terpinen-4-ol was able to inhibit MRSA strain biofilm formation on the glass strips by 73.70%. TTO inhibited the violacein production at a mean inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.048 mg/mL by 69.3%. At 100 µg/mL TTO and terpinen-4-ol exhibited inhibition in swarming motility of PAO1 by 33.33% and 25%, respectively. TTO revealed anti-QS and anti-biofilm activities at very low concentrations, but it could be further investigated for new molecules useful for the treatment of MRSA infections.

Keywords: Chromobacterium violaceum; MRSA; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; TTO; anti-quorum sensing; biofilm; terpinen-4-ol; violacein.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Anti-adhesive effects on polystyrene of TTO and terpinen-4-ol at different concentrations (MIC, MIC/2, MIC/4, MIC/8 and MIC/16) on three S. aureus strains including (A) strain Sa12; (B) strain Sa15 and (C) strain Sa18. C: control, OD: optical density.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Anti-adhesive effects on glass of TTO and terpinen-4-ol at different concentrations (MIC, MIC/2, MIC/4, MIC/8 and MIC/16) on three S. aureus strains including (A) strain Sa12; (B) strain Sa15 and (C) strain Sa18. C: control, OD: optical density.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effect of different concentrations of M. alternifolia essential oil on biofilm formation by Sa15 strain on glass at different concentrations. (A: Control; B: MIC; C: 2 × MIC and D: 4 × MIC), × 100.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of different MIC values of M. alternifolia and terpinen-4-ol on violacein inhibition (qualitative method with C. violaceum ATCC 12472).
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