Abstract

STUDY ON ANTI-QUORUM SENSING POTENTIAL OF SELECTED LOCAL ULAM IN MALAYSIA

Nur Aishah Abdul Wahab*, Mohd Syazwan Mohd Zain, Jalil Kader,Salina Mat Radzi, Hanina Mohd Noor

ABSTRACT

Bacterial intercellular communication, or quorum sensing (QS), controls the pathogenesis of many medically important organisms. Anti-QS compounds have the ability to attenuate bacterial pathogenicity. The current quest for new antimicrobials aimed at discovering non-toxic inhibitors of QS from natural sources which can be used for the treatment of bacterial infections in human. The objective of this research is to study the anti-QS potential in some of local ulam commonly found in Malaysia. In this study, seven types of local ulam namely; Parkia speciosa, Cosmos cardatus, Centella asiatica, Manihot esculenta leaf sprigs, Psophocarpus tetragonolobus, Polygonum minus and Oenanthe javanica were tested on the anti-QS potentials in fresh (edible or macerated) forms and methanol extracts via biomonitor strain Chromabacterium violaceum ATCC 12472. This biomonitor strain has an ability to produce a purple pigment (violacein) under QS-control. The results exhibited the wide variation in the anti-QS activities on selected local ulam in fresh and methanol extract forms. The highest anti-QS activity was recorded by P. minus and C. asiatica extracts as the lowest of minimum QS inhibition concentration value (7.81 mg/ml) was indicated by both extracts respectively. This study introduces not only a new mode of action and possible validation for traditional plant use, but also a potentially new therapeutic direction for the treatment of bacterial infections.

Keywords: Ulam, Chromabacterium violaceum ATCC 12472, anti-quorum sensing.