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. 2024 Jun 19;12(6):1230.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12061230.

Nisin Inhibition of Gram-Negative Bacteria

Adam M Charest  1 , Ethan Reed  1 , Samantha Bozorgzadeh  1 , Lorenzo Hernandez  1 , Natalie V Getsey  1 , Liam Smith  1 , Anastasia Galperina  1 , Hadley E Beauregard  1 , Hailey A Charest  1 , Mathew Mitchell  2 , Margaret A Riley  1   2
Affiliations

Nisin Inhibition of Gram-Negative Bacteria

Adam M Charest et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Aims: This study investigates the activity of the broad-spectrum bacteriocin nisin against a large panel of Gram-negative bacterial isolates, including relevant plant, animal, and human pathogens. The aim is to generate supportive evidence towards the use/inclusion of bacteriocin-based therapeutics and open avenues for their continued development. Methods and Results: Nisin inhibitory activity was screened against a panel of 575 strains of Gram-negative bacteria, encompassing 17 genera. Nisin inhibition was observed in 309 out of 575 strains, challenging the prevailing belief that nisin lacks effectiveness against Gram-negative bacteria. The genera Acinetobacter, Helicobacter, Erwinia, and Xanthomonas exhibited particularly high nisin sensitivity. Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the promising potential of nisin as a therapeutic agent for several key Gram-negative plant, animal, and human pathogens. These results challenge the prevailing notion that nisin is less effective or ineffective against Gram-negative pathogens when compared to Gram-positive pathogens and support future pursuits of nisin as a complementary therapy to existing antibiotics. Significance and Impact of Study: This research supports further exploration of nisin as a promising therapeutic agent for numerous human, animal, and plant health applications, offering a complementary tool for infection control in the face of multidrug-resistant bacteria.

Keywords: alternatives to antibiotics; antimicrobial resistance; antimicrobials; bacteria; bacteriocins; nisin.

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Conflict of interest statement

Margaret A. Riley and Mathew Mitchell have a patent pending for nisin’s use in agriculture and are cofounders of Organicin Scientific, Inc. whose mission is to develop bacteriocins for use as alternatives to conventional antibiotics. They receive no salaries for those positions. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathways of nisin inhibition against Gram-positive (A) and Gram-negative (B) bacteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The rank order of nisin sensitivity (from least to highest) for 17 genera of Gram-negative bacteria. Isolates of P. aeruginosa and P. syringae are provided separately.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Summary statistics of MIC data for Gram-negative bacteria: Violin plots of MICs for 17 genera of Gram-negative bacteria are provided. MICs are on the y-axis, and genera are indicated on the x-axis. P. aeruginosa and P. syringae are provided separately. Thin black horizontal lines indicate quartiles; thick black horizontal lines indicate medians; widths of violin plots represent the proportion of isolates for a given MIC, and black dots are where clusters of similar MICs fall.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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