Browsing by Author "Vlok, Nicolaas Mare"
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- ItemInvestigation of complexation and antimicrobial activity of gramicidin S in the presence of lipopeptides from Bacillus subtilis(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-03) Vlok, Nicolaas Mare; Rautenbach, Marina; Snoep, J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Science. Dept. of Biochemistry.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The implication of biologically active peptides from different organisms on one another in complex ecological communities is largely unknown at this stage. The elucidation of the nature of this influence may have practical implications in terms of organism resistance and the conservation of an optimal agricultural environment. This study was aimed to elucidate the effect of antimicrobial peptides from different co-habitational organisms, on each other, both in terms of bioactivity and interaction. The two peptides investigated were gramicidin S, a decapeptide from Bacillus brevis, and surfactin, a heptalipopeptide from Bacillus subtilis. Preliminary studies were also done on iturin A and synthetic analogues of iturin A and iturin C, both octalipopeptides from Bacillus subtilis. Analytical antimicrobial assay systems were used to study the effect of surfactin on the antibiotic action of gramicidin S towards three different target cells namely, a Gram-positive bacterium (Micrococcus luteus), a Gram-negative bacterium, (Escherichia coli) and a fungus (Penicillium corylophilium). The investigation of the antifungal activity was hampered by the insensitivity and subjectivity of the majority of antifungal assays and necessitated the development of two new testing methodologies. The investigation showed that surf actin had an antagonistic effect on the antimicrobial activity of gramicidin S against all three of the target cells. This antagonism is dose-dependent at concentrations lower than required for surfactin to exert biological activity. Electrospray mass spectrometry (ESMS) showed the formation of surfactin-gramicidin S complexes in 1:1 and 2: 1 ratios with enhanced complex formation in an apolar environment. Dissociation experiments indicated that the peptide complexes were slightly less stable than the peptides alone. The presence of NaCI up to 80 mM had little effect on the stability of preformed complexes. Incubating surfactin with NaCI and CaCh before titration with gramicidin S also did not affect complex formation. Furthermore, results from the pre-incubation studies with CaCh indicated that surfactin-gramicidin S complexes might be formed through the displacement of the metal ion. The mechanism of this displacement is unlikely to be direct competition but rather the result of conformational' changes induced by peptide-peptide interaction/interactions. A likely point of interaction the p-tums in the peptide ring. Linear iturin A2 and iturin C analogues were synthesised (8-Beta and 8-Betac) with solid phase peptide synthesis and purified using self-assembly and high performance liquid chromatography. The products of the syntheses wete analysed by ESMS and found to be correct. The products, together with commercially obtained iturin A, were used in biological assays and it was found that iturin A antagonises the antibiotic activity of gramicidin S but the linear analogues had no effect. Complex formation between iturin A and gramicidin S was observed using ESMS but no complexes were detected for the analogues, which reinforces the hypothesis that antagonism is related to the formation of inactive complexes. In general, the formation of peptide-gramicidin S complexes may indicate that a defence mechanism may be present in which toxic peptides of the competitor organism are inactivated by peptides from co-habiting organisms.