title: Chemical composition and disruption of quorum sensing signaling in geographically diverse United States propolis.
abstract: Propolis or bee glue has been used for centuries for various purposes and is especially important in human health due to many of its biological and pharmacological properties. In this work we showed quorum sensing inhibitory (QSI) activity of ten geographically distinct propolis samples from the United States using the acyl-homoserine lactone- (AHL-) dependent Chromobacterium violaceum strain CV026. Based on GC-MS chemical profiling the propolis samples can be classified into several groups that are as follows: (1) rich in cinnamic acid derivatives, (2) rich in flavonoids, and (3) rich in triterpenes. An in-depth analysis of the propolis from North Carolina led to the isolation and identification of a triterpenic acid that was recently isolated from Hondurian propolis (Central America) and ethyl ether of p-coumaric alcohol not previously identified in bee propolis. QSI activity was also observed in the second group US propolis samples which contained the flavonoid pinocembrin in addition to other flavonoid compounds. The discovery of compounds that are involved in QSI activity has the potential to facilitate studies that may lead to the development of antivirulence therapies that can be complementary and/or alternative treatments against antibiotic resistant bacterial pathogens and/or emerging pathogens that have yet to be identified.
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Savka
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dailey
authors.affiliation: Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Academic G. Bonchev Street, Building 9, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Milena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Popova
authors.affiliation: Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Academic G. Bonchev Street, Building 9, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Ralitsa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mihaylova
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Merritt
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Marissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Masek
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Phuong
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Le
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Sharifah Radziah Mat
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Nor
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: The Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences, College of Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, 85 Lomb Memorial Dr., A350 Gosnell Hall, Rochester, NY 14623, USA.
authors.forename: André O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Organic Chemistry with Centre of Phytochemistry, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Academic G. Bonchev Street, Building 9, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: Vassya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bankova