Evaluation antimicrobial and antiadhesive properties of the biosurfactant lunas...

• Author(s): Luna, J. M. ; Rufino, R. D. ; Sarrubbo, L. A. ; Rodrigues, L. R. ; Teixeira, J. A. ; Takaki, G. M. Campos
• Date: 2011
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/11927
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): bBosurfactant; Antimicrobial activity; Anti-adhesive activity
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

Different groups of biosurfactants exhibit diverse properties and display a variety of physiological functions in producer microorganisms; these include enhancing the solubility of hydrophobic/water-insoluble compound, heave metal binding, bacterial pathogenesis, cell adhesion and aggregation, quorum sensing and biofilm formation. Candida sphaerica was grown in a low cost medium, consisting of distilled water supplemented with 9% refinery residue of soybean oil and 9% corn steep liquor, for 144 h at 28 C and 150 rpm. The cell-free supernatant obtained at the end of the experiments was submitted to extraction, and afterward the biosurfactant was isolated using methanol with a yield of 9 g l-1. The critical micelle concentration of the biosurfactant was found to be 0.25 mg ml-1 with a surface tension of 25 mN m-1. Several concentrations of the biosurfactant (0.625–10 mg ml-1) were used to evaluate its antimicrobial and antiadhesive activities against a variety of microorganisms. The biosurfactant showed antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus oralis (68%), Candida albicans (57%), and Staphylococcus epidermidis(57.6%) for the highest concentration tested. Furthermore, the biosurfactant at a concentration of 10 mg ml-1 inhibited the adhesion between 80 and 92% of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus agalactiae, Streptococcus sanguis12. Inhibition of adhesion with percentages near 100% occurred for the higher concentrations of biosurfactant used. Results gathered in this study point to a potential use of the biosurfactant in biomedical applications