Planta Med 2011; 77 - PM16
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282774

Potential antibiotic and anti-infective effects of rhodomyrtone from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk. on Streptococcus pyogenes as revealed by proteomics

O Kayser 1, S Limsuwan 2, A Hesseling Meinders 3, SP Voravuthikunchai 4, JM Van Dijl 5
  • 1Technical University Dortmund, Technical Biochemistry, 44227 Dortmund, Germany
  • 2Faculty of Traditional Thai medicine and Natural Products Research Center, Faculty of Science Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
  • 3Department of Molecular Genetics, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Nijenborg 7, 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands
  • 4Department of Microbiology and Natural Products Research Center, Faculty of Science Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
  • 5Department of Medical Microbiology, University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) and University of Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, 9700 RB Groningen, the Netherlands

Rhodomyrtone from Rhodomyrtus tomentosa (Aiton) Hassk. leaf extract has a strong antibacterial activity against the bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes. Our previous studies indicated that the bactericidal activity of rhodomyrtone might involve intracellular targets. In the present studies we followed a proteomics approach to investigate the mode of action of rhodomyrtone on S. pyogenes. For this purpose, S. pyogenes was cultivated in the presence of 0.39µg/ml rhodomyrtone, which corresponds to 50% of the minimal inhibitory concentration. The results show that the amounts of various enzymes associated with important metabolic pathways were strongly affected, which is consistent with the growth-inhibiting effect of rhodomyrtone. Additionally, cells of S. pyogenes grown in the presence of rhodomyrtone produced reduced amounts of known virulence factors, such as the glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, the cAMP factor, and the streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin C. Taken together, these findings indicate that rhodomyrtone has both antimicrobial and anti-infective activities, which make it an interesting candidate drug.

Keywords: glycolysis, proteomics, rhodomyrtone, Rhodomyrtus tomentosa, Streptococcus pyogenes, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis

Acknowledgement: We thank Jan Arends, and members of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Department of Molecular Genetics for strains and technical support. We thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wilawan Mahabusarakam and Mr. Asadhawut Hiranrat for rhodomyrtone isolation. The work was funded by the Thailand Research Fund through the Royal Golden Jubilee, Ph.D. Program (PHD/0029/2548). Funding was furthermore provided by the National Research University Project of Thailand's Office of the Higher Education Commission, the Van Leersumfonds, The Netherlands (VLF/DA/3689), and the CEU projects LSHM-CT- 2006–019064 and LSHG-CT-2006–037469.

References: [1] Limsuwan S, Hesseling-Meinders A, Voravuthikunchai SP, van Dij JMl, Kayser O (2011) Phytomedicine, in press

[2] Limsuwan S et al. (2009) Phytomedicine 16: 645