Pomegranate [Punica granatum L.) peel extract inhibits quorum sensing and biofilm formation potential in Yersinia enterocolitica

Abstract

Quorum sensing (QS) is involved in the process of cell-to-cell communication and as a gene regulatory mechanism, which has been implicated in bacterial pathogenicity. Bacteria use this QS system to control a variety of physiological processes. In this study, pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) peel extract (PPE) was first screened for its ability to inhibit QS in bio-reporter strains (Chromobacterium violaceum and C. violaceum CV026). Next, the ability of PPE to inhibit swimming motility and biofilm formation was examined in Y enterocolitica. Additionally, changes in the expression of specific genes involved in the synthesis of the N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs; yenl and yenR) and in the flagellar regulon (fli A, fle B and flhDC) were evaluated by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. The results show that PPE specifically inhibited and reduced QS-controlled violacein production by 78.5% in C. violaceum CV026, and decreased QS-associated biofilm formation and swimming motility in Y enterocolitica without significantly affecting bacterial growth. These inhibitory effects were also associated with the down regulation of gene expression involved in the synthesis of AHLs and in motility. Our results suggest that PPE could be a potential therapeutic agent to prevent enteropathogens in humans, as well as highlight the need to further investigate the in vivo properties of PPE for clinical applications. © 2015, The Korean Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology.