Action of lombazole, and inhibitor of fungal ergosterol biosynthesis, on Staphylococcus epidermidis

Abstract

Lombazole had no effect on respiration at any tested concentration and had little effect on the K+ permeability of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Of the major metabolic processes investigated in this bacterium, only de novo synthesis of the cell envelope was inhibited by lombazole well in advance of an effect on growth. The time course of inhibition indicated that lombazole exerted its primary effect via inhibition of lipid synthesis; other induced changes, such as reduced synthesis of lipoteichoic acid and cell wall components, were considered to be secondary effects. Although the precise site of action in S. epidermidis has to be established, the absence of alterations in lipid patterns after treatment with lombazole suggests the toxicant may affect an essential step in lipid biosynthesis. In Candida albicans, lombazole inhibited the sterol C-14 demethylation step in the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway.