Identification of a compound from soybean hull pyrolysate with activity against Salmonella enterica

VIARENGO, G.; GIRI, G. F.; FURLAN, R. L. E.; SUÁREZ, A. G.; SPANEVELLO, R. A.; GARCÍA VESCOVI, E.

Rosario

Congreso; 50 Reunión Anual Sociedad Argentina de Investigación en Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; 2014

Salmonella is an enteropathogen that causes a wide range of diseases in humans and animals. In S. typhimurium, the PhoP/PhoQ two-component system (TCS) controls the virulence, the adaptation to limited Mg2+ conditions, the resistance to antimicrobial peptides and the modifications of the LPS. This system is also involved in the bacterial entry mechanism into the host cell. Once inside the cell, PhoP modulated genes contribute to define the intracellular survival of Salmonella. As signal transduction in mammals occurs by a different mechanism, the inhibition of these TCS may be a target for new antimicrobial agents. In Argentina, soybean hull constitutes a main agroindustrial subproduct, which is susceptible of being recycled by pyrolysis with the aim of obtaining economically useful compounds. By using a bio-guided strategy, we have discovered that soybean hull pyrolysates affect viability of both Gram(-) and Gram(+) bacteria, and have identified the compound responsible for this effect. Also, we have synthesized chemically modified derivatives of this compound that allowed us to determine the chemical functional groups that are required for the action over bacterial viability. In conclusion, our results highlight the importance of biomass pyrolysis to recycle low commercial value products into compounds with antimicrobial activity against pathogenic bacteria of sanitary relevance.