Diminishing the Pathogenesis of the Food-Borne Pathogen Serratia marcescens by Low Doses of Sodium Citrate

by Selleckchem | Jul 24 2023

Protecting food from bacterial contamination is crucial for ensuring its safety and avoiding foodborne illness. Serratia marcescens is one of the food bacterial contaminants that can form biofilms and pigments that spoil the food product and could cause infections and illness to the consumer. Food preservation is essential to diminish such bacterial contaminants or at least reduce their pathogenesis; however, it should not affect food odor, taste, and consistency and must be safe. Sodium citrate is a well-known safe food additive and the current study aims to evaluate its anti-virulence and anti-biofilm activity at low concentrations against S. marcescens. The anti-virulence and antibiofilm activities of sodium citrate were evaluated phenotypically and genotypically. The results showed the significant effect of sodium citrate on decreasing the biofilm formation and other virulence factors, such as motility and the production of prodigiosin, protease, and hemolysins. This could be owed to its downregulating effect on the virulence-encoding genes. An in vivo investigation was conducted on mice and the histopathological examination of isolated tissues from the liver and kidney of mice confirmed the anti-virulence activity of sodium citrate. In addition, an in silico docking study was conducted to evaluate the sodium citrate binding ability to S. marcescens quorum sensing (QS) receptors that regulates its virulence. Sodium citrate showed a marked virtual ability to compete on QS proteins, which could explain sodium citrate's anti-virulence effect. In conclusion, sodium citrate is a safe food additive and can be used at low concentrations to prevent contamination and biofilm formation by S. marcescens and other bacteria.

Comments:

The study aimed to evaluate the anti-virulence and anti-biofilm activity of sodium citrate, a safe food additive, against Serratia marcescens, a bacterial contaminant known for forming biofilms and pigments that can spoil food and cause illness. The researchers conducted both phenotypic and genotypic evaluations to assess the effects of sodium citrate.

The results of the study demonstrated that sodium citrate had a significant impact on reducing biofilm formation and other virulence factors exhibited by S. marcescens, such as motility, prodigiosin production, protease activity, and hemolysin production. These effects could be attributed to sodium citrate's ability to downregulate the genes responsible for virulence.

To further investigate the anti-virulence activity, an in vivo study was conducted using mice. The histopathological examination of liver and kidney tissues from the mice confirmed the effectiveness of sodium citrate in reducing virulence factors produced by S. marcescens.

Additionally, an in silico docking study was performed to evaluate the binding ability of sodium citrate to S. marcescens quorum sensing (QS) receptors, which play a role in regulating the bacterium's virulence. The results indicated that sodium citrate showed a strong virtual ability to compete with QS proteins, suggesting a potential mechanism for its anti-virulence effect.

Based on these findings, the study concludes that sodium citrate, when used at low concentrations, can be a valuable tool in preventing contamination and biofilm formation by S. marcescens and potentially other bacteria. The use of sodium citrate as a food additive offers a safe and effective means of protecting food without compromising its odor, taste, or consistency.