Antimicrobial activity of prodigiosin isolated from Serratia marcescens UFPEDA 398

World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2015 Feb;31(2):399-406. doi: 10.1007/s11274-014-1793-y. Epub 2014 Dec 31.

Abstract

Prodigiosin is an alkaloid and natural red pigment produced by Serratia marcescens. Prodigiosin has antimicrobial, antimalarial and antitumor properties and induces apoptosis in T and B lymphocytes. These properties have piqued the interest of researchers in the fields of medicine, pharmaceutics and different industries. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of prodigiosin against pathogenic micro-organisms. The red pigments produced by S. marcescens exhibited absorption at 534 nm, Rf of 0.59 and molecular weight of 323 m/z. Antimicrobial activity was tested against oxacillin-resistant Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Acinetobacter sp. and oxacillin-resistant S. aureus. The standard antibiotics employed were ampicillin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin and oxacillin. The disc-diffusion tests demonstrated significant inhibition zones for S. aureus (35 ± 0.6), E. faecalis (22 ± 1.0) and S. pyogenes (14 ± 0.6). However, prodigiosin showed resistance to E. coli, P. aeruginosa and acinetobacter, where no significant formation of inhibitory halos were observed. We determined the inhibitory minimum concentrations and bactericidal for 20 strains of oxacillin-resistant S. aureus (ORSA). The pattern was the antibiotic oxacillin. The minimum inhibitory concentrations observed ranged from 1, 2 and 4.0 μg/mL, respectively, while the minimum bactericidal concentrations ranged from 2, 4, 8 and 16 μg/mL. The S. marcescens prodigiosin produced by showed bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect showing promising antimicrobial activity and suggesting future studies regarding its applicability in antibiotics therapies directed ORSA.

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter / drug effects
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacteria / drug effects*
  • Bacteria / growth & development
  • Disk Diffusion Antimicrobial Tests
  • Enterococcus faecalis / drug effects
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Prodigiosin / chemistry
  • Prodigiosin / pharmacology*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / drug effects
  • Serratia marcescens / chemistry*
  • Spectrophotometry
  • Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Streptococcus pyogenes / drug effects

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Prodigiosin