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332145

The Regulatory Events Associated with The Induction of Antimicrobial Activity Following Injection of Escherichia coli into Galleria mellonella Larvae

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Last updated: 24 Dec 2024

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Abstract

The present investigation used Galleria mellonella larvae as an infection model to describe the regulatory events associated with the induction of antimicrobial activity following injection of a sub-lethal dose of Escherichia coli into the larval hemocoel. The ability of larval hemolymph to generate this activity as natural antibiotics was examined at different time periods postinjection against both the target bacteria (Gram-negative, E. coli) and Gram-positive, Staphylococcus aureus, as well as against some selected fungi such as Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. The results indicated that the highest response was found against G -ve bacteria (E. coli) than any other pathogens tested, and the highest activity was obtained at 24 h post-treatment. This may indicate that the antimicrobial is specific to the inoculated bacteria. The presence of such activity in larval plasma was verified using microbiological and biochemical tests. E. coli-growth tests on solid agar were carried out, and the results showed drastic effects represented by bacterial mortality that exceeds 74.5% in bacteria-treated with immune plasma, while weak effects were evident in normal (untreated) and control (water-treated) plasma. These tests have confirmed this activity is bactericidal. Also, hemolysis tests were conducted using human erythrocytes as target cells, and the results indicated that all plasma samples possess a weak hemolysis activity, which confirms its safety on human and animals health. Additional biochemical tests of the mode of action were performed to determine the ability of the induced antimicrobial agent of the immune plasma to alter the cell membrane integrity of the E. coli bacterial cell by analysis of proteins. The results confirmed that the immune plasma is capable of inducing leakage of these intracellular molecules in the tested bacterial cells. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was also used to visualize the morphological effects resulting from treating the target bacterium with this antimicrobial agent and the results indicated a weak growth and an irregular pitted surface of the treated bacterial cells as compared to dense growth and regular smooth surface exhibited in the controls. These results may provide us with essential data for the development and production of new means of protecting humans and animals from infectious diseases.

DOI

10.21608/eajbsg.2023.332145

Keywords

Galleria mellonella, Hemolymph, Escherichia coli, Antibacterial activity, Hemolysis, bacterial cell membrane integrity and SEM

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Abokersh

MiddleName

O.

Affiliation

Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Al-Asmarya Islamic University, Zeletin, Libya.

Email

emsbarakat@yahoo.com

City

Libya

Orcid

-

First Name

Emad

Last Name

Barakat

MiddleName

M. S.

Affiliation

Department of Entomology, Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.

Email

-

City

Egypt

Orcid

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Volume

15

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

42714

Issue Date

2023-12-01

Receive Date

2023-10-17

Publish Date

2023-12-23

Page Start

161

Page End

177

Print ISSN

2090-0872

Online ISSN

2090-0880

Link

https://eajbsg.journals.ekb.eg/article_332145.html

Detail API

https://eajbsg.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=332145

Order

332,145

Type

Original Article

Type Code

689

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Academic Journal of Biological Sciences, G. Microbiology

Publication Link

https://eajbsg.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

The Regulatory Events Associated with The Induction of Antimicrobial Activity Following Injection of Escherichia coli into Galleria mellonella Larvae

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Article

Created At

24 Dec 2024