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. 2019 Jul 10;24(14):2518.
doi: 10.3390/molecules24142518.

Inhibitory Activity of Plant Essential Oils against E. coli 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase

Ge Yan  1 , Bo-Rong Zhu  2 , Fang-Lin Tian  1 , Xian Hui  1 , Heng Li  1 , Yi-Ming Li  3 , Wen-Yun Gao  4
Affiliations

Inhibitory Activity of Plant Essential Oils against E. coli 1-Deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase

Ge Yan et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

The rate-limiting enzyme of the 2-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) terpenoid biosynthetic pathway, 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR), provides the perfect target for screening new antibacterial substances. In this study, we tested the DXR inhibitory effect of 35 plant essential oils (EOs), which have long been recognized for their antimicrobial properties. The results show that the EOs of Zanbthoxylum bungeanum (ZB), Schizonepetae tenuifoliae (ST), Thymus quinquecostatus (TQ), Origanum vulgare (OV), and Eugenia caryophyllata (EC) displayed weak to medium inhibitory activity against DXR, with IC50 values of 78 μg/mL, 65 μg/mL, 59 μg/mL, 48 μg/mL, and 37 μg/mL, respectively. GC-MS analyses of the above oils and further DXR inhibitory activity tests of their major components revealed that eugenol (EC) and carvacrol (TQ and OV) possess medium inhibition against the protein (68.3% and 55.6%, respectively, at a concentration of 20 μg/mL), whereas thymol (ST, TQ, and OV), carveol (ZB), and linalool (ZB, ST, and OV) only exhibited weak inhibition against DXR, at 20 μg/mL (23%-26%). The results add more details to the antimicrobial mechanisms of plant EOs, which could be very helpful in the direction of the reasonable use of EOs in the food industry and in the control of phytopathogenic microbials.

Keywords: 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase; antibacterial mechanism; inhibition; plant essential oils.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors of the manuscript wish to confirm that there are no known conflicts of interest associated with this publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The first committed step of the 2-methyl-d-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) terpenoid biosynthetic pathway and its inhibitors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The UV absorbance of NADPH, plant essential oils (Eos), individual EO components, and DMSO at 340 nm. NADPH (0.15 mM in 100 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.4); Plant EOs and individual EO component at 50 μg/mL in methanol; DMSO at 0.5% in water.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Concentration-dependent 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (DXR) inhibition manners of the EOs of ZB, ST, TQ, OV, and EC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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