Hydnophytum formicarum Jack ethanol extract modulates quorum sensing-controlled pathogenicity in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

The discovery of new mechanism to control microbial pathogenicity by quorum sensing modulation has generated the search for quorum sensing inhibitor from natural resources. The objective of this research was to evaluate the ability of Hydnophytum formicarum Jack (Rubiaceae) ethanol extract to antagonize cell-to cell communication. Pulverized H. formicarum tuber was macerated in ethyl alcohol 96% and evaporated to yield ethanol extract. A dillution technique using Luria-Bertani (LB) medium was used to observe the capability of the extract to reduce the violacein production in Chromobacterium violaceum. Samples in two-fold dilution were prepared to obtain 2 - 0.0625 mg/mL concentration. The effects on swimming, swarming and twitching motility as well as the formation of biofilm towards Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 were recorded over control. All experiments were done in triplicate. The architecture of Ps. aeruginosa biofilm treated with samples was examined by CLSM (Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy) . Our results suggested that the ethanol extract of H. formicarum caused violacein production inhibition. Furthermore, inhibition of Ps. aeruginosa motility and biofilm formation were recorded to be significant over control in a concentration dependent manner. H. formicarum serves as a potential source for new QS-based antibacterial drugs towards Ps. aeruginosa.