Inhibitory Activity of Plant Essential Oils against E. coli 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Switzerland), 2019-07, Vol.24 (14), p.2518
• Main Authors: Yan, Ge, Zhu, Bo-Rong, Tian, Fang-Lin, Hui, Xian, Li, Heng, Li, Yi-Ming, Gao, Wen-Yun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 1-deoxy- d -xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase; Aldose-Ketose Isomerases - antagonists & inhibitors; Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; antibacterial mechanism; Antibiotics; Antiinfectives and antibacterials; Antimicrobial agents; Bacteria; Carvacrol; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug resistance; E coli; Enzyme Activation - drug effects; Enzyme Inhibitors - chemistry; Enzyme Inhibitors - pharmacology; Enzymes; Escherichia coli - drug effects; Escherichia coli - enzymology; Essential oils; Eugenol; Flowers & plants; Food industry; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; inhibition; Linalool; Molecular Structure; Oils & fats; Oils, Volatile - chemistry; Oils, Volatile - pharmacology; Oregano; Pathogens; Photometry - methods; plant essential oils; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Reductoisomerase; Thymol; Xylulose
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules24142518

The rate-limiting enzyme of the 2-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) terpenoid biosynthetic pathway, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR), provides the perfect target for screening new antibacterial substances. In this study, we tested the DXR inhibitory effect of 35 plant essential oils (EOs), which have long been recognized for their antimicrobial properties. The results show that the EOs of (ZB), (ST), (TQ), (OV), and (EC) displayed weak to medium inhibitory activity against DXR, with IC values of 78 μg/mL, 65 μg/mL, 59 μg/mL, 48 μg/mL, and 37 μg/mL, respectively. GC-MS analyses of the above oils and further DXR inhibitory activity tests of their major components revealed that eugenol (EC) and carvacrol (TQ and OV) possess medium inhibition against the protein (68.3% and 55.6%, respectively, at a concentration of 20 μg/mL), whereas thymol (ST, TQ, and OV), carveol (ZB), and linalool (ZB, ST, and OV) only exhibited weak inhibition against DXR, at 20 μg/mL (23%-26%). The results add more details to the antimicrobial mechanisms of plant EOs, which could be very helpful in the direction of the reasonable use of EOs in the food industry and in the control of phytopathogenic microbials.