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Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The first volume of the Special Issue “Antimicrobial and Anti-infective Activity of Natural Products” was published in 2022. It was a successful issue with 20 published papers and has encouraged us to open a second volume with the same topic.

As a continuation of the Special Issue published in 2022, this second volume will also search for new antimicrobial compounds from natural products, mechanisms of action of pure compounds, in silico evidence of antimicrobial activity, synergistic associations with antibiotics, antimicrobial effects of probiotics and other microorganisms (and their products), and compounds with antivirulence activity or capable of neutralizing microbial resistance. We also welcome the submission of research papers that study alternative methods of demonstrating the in vivo efficacy of compounds or natural extracts.

Manuscripts reporting on the screening of crude plant extracts will not normally be considered for publication in this Section. Manuscripts dealing with zone-of-inhibition assays will not normally be considered for publication; biological activities should be further quantified via MIC, IC50, or other determinations.

Dr. Valério Monteiro-Neto
Dr. Elizabeth S. Fernandes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Antibiotics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3725 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Artemisinin May Disrupt Hyphae Formation by Suppressing Biofilm-Related Genes of Candida albicans: In Vitro and In Silico Approaches

by Esra Sumlu, Merve Aydin, Emine Nedime Korucu, Saliha Alyar and Ahmed Moustapha Nsangou

Antibiotics 2024, 13(4), 310; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics13040310 - 28 Mar 2024

Viewed by 498

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the antifungal and antibiofilm efficacy of artemisinin against Candida (C.) species, analyze its impact on gene expression levels within C. albicans biofilms, and investigate the molecular interactions through molecular docking. The antifungal efficacy of artemisinin on a variety of Candida species, including fluconazole-resistant and -susceptible species, was evaluated by the microdilution method. The effect of artemisinin on C. albicans biofilm formation was investigated by MTT and FESEM. The mRNA expression of the genes related to biofilm was analyzed by qRT-PCR. In addition, molecular docking analysis was used to understand the interaction between artemisinin and C. albicans at the molecular level with RAS1-cAMP-EFG1 and EFG1-regulated genes. Artemisinin showed higher sensitivity against non-albicans Candida strains. Furthermore, artemisinin was strongly inhibitory against C. albicans biofilms at 640 µg/mL. Artemisinin downregulated adhesion-related genes ALS3, HWP1, and ECE1, hyphal development genes UME6 and HGC1, and hyphal CAMP-dependent protein kinase regulators CYR1, RAS1, and EFG1. Furthermore, molecular docking analysis revealed that artemisinin and EFG1 had the highest affinity, followed by UME6. FESEM analysis showed that the fluconazole- and artemisinin-treated groups exhibited a reduced hyphal network, unusual surface bulges, and the formation of pores on the cell surfaces. Our study suggests that artemisinin may have antifungal potential and showed a remarkable antibiofilm activity by significantly suppressing adhesion and hyphal development through interaction with key proteins involved in biofilm formation, such as EFG1. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial and Anti-infective Activity of Natural Products, 2nd Volume)

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Graphical abstract

20 pages, 9595 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Antimicrobial Activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BS4 against Gram-Negative Pathogenic Bacteria

by Ana Paula Palacios-Rodriguez, Abraham Espinoza-Culupú, Yerson Durán and Tito Sánchez-Rojas

Antibiotics 2024, 13(4), 304; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/antibiotics13040304 - 28 Mar 2024

Viewed by 913

Abstract

Worldwide, bacterial resistance is one of the most severe public health problems. Currently, the failure of antibiotics to counteract superbugs highlights the need to search for new molecules with antimicrobial potential to combat them. The objective of this research was to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BS4 against Gram-negative bacteria. Thirty yeasts and thirty-two Bacillus isolates were tested following the agar well-diffusion method. Four Bacillus sp. strains (BS3, BS4, BS17, and BS21) showed antagonistic activity against E. coli ATCC 25922 using bacterial culture (BC) and the cell-free supernatant (CFS), where the BS4 strain stood out, showing inhibitory values of 20.50 ± 0.70 mm and 19.67 ± 0.58 mm for BC and CFS, respectively. The Bacillus sp. BS4 strain can produce antioxidant, non-hemolytic, and antimicrobial metabolites that exhibit activity against several microorganisms such as Salmonella enterica, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Shigella flexneri, Enterobacter aerogenes, Proteus vulgaris, Yersinia enterocolitica, Serratia marcescens, Aeromonas sp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Candida tropicalis. According to the characterization of the supernatant, the metabolites could be proteinaceous. The production of these metabolites is influenced by carbon and nitrogen sources. The most suitable medium to produce antimicrobial metabolites was TSB broth. The one-factor-at-a-time method was used to standardize parameters such as pH, agitation, temperature, carbon source, nitrogen source, and salts, resulting in the best conditions of pH 7, 150 rpm, 28 °C, starch (2.5 g/L), tryptone (20 g/L), and magnesium sulfate (0.2 g/L), respectively. Moreover, the co-culture was an excellent strategy to improve antimicrobial activity, achieving maximum antimicrobial activity with an inhibition zone of 21.85 ± 1.03 mm. These findings position the Bacillus amyloliquefaciens BS4 strain as a promising candidate for producing bioactive molecules with potential applications in human health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antimicrobial and Anti-infective Activity of Natural Products, 2nd Volume)

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