title: Punicalagin inhibits Salmonella virulence factors and has anti-quorum-sensing potential.
abstract: Punicalagin, an essential component of pomegranate rind, has been demonstrated to possess antimicrobial activity against several food-borne pathogens, but its activity on the virulence of pathogens and its anti-quorum-sensing (anti-QS) potential have been rarely reported. This study investigated the efficacy of subinhibitory concentrations of punicalagin on Salmonella virulence factors and QS systems. A broth microdilution method was used to determine the MICs of punicalagin for 10 Salmonella strains. Motility assay and quantitative reverse transcription (RT)-PCR were performed to evaluate the effects of punicalagin on the virulence attributes and QS-related genes of Salmonella. The MICs of punicalagin for several Salmonella strains ranged from 250 to 1,000 μg/ml. Motility assays showed that punicalagin, at 1/16× MIC and 1/32× MIC, significantly decreased bacterial swimming and swarming motility, which corresponded to downregulation of the motility-related genes (fliA, fliY, fljB, flhC, and fimD) in RT-PCR assays. RT-PCR also revealed that punicalagin downregulated the expression of most of the selected genes involved in Salmonella virulence. Moreover, a QS inhibition assay indicated that punicalagin dose dependently inhibited the production of violacein by Chromobacterium violaceum and repressed the expression of QS-related genes (sdiA and srgE) in Salmonella. In addition, punicalagin significantly reduced Salmonella invasion of colonic cells (P<0.01) with no impact on adhesion. These findings suggest that punicalagin has the potential to be developed as an alternative or supplemental agent for prevention of Salmonella infection.
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Guanghui
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Chunhong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Yuqing
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Baowei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Food Science and Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Shaanxi, China foodscixiaodong@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Xiaodong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D002861:Chromobacterium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007211:Indoles / Q000378:metabolism; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D053038:Quorum Sensing / Q000187:drug effects*; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D014774:Virulence / Q000187:drug effects; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D047348:Hydrolyzable Tannins; D007211:Indoles; D037521:Virulence Factors; C115642:punicalagin; C063155:violacein
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