Identification of antibacterial metabolites produced by a marine bacterium Halobacillus marinus HMALI004.

Aims: This study examined and characterized the extract for metabolites of Halobacillus marinus HMALI004 to understand their antibacterial activities against opportunistic marine pathogens, that is, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio cholerae.

Methods And Results: The bacterial strain HMALI004 was characterized as H. marinus, and an antibacterial spectral test revealed its inhibition against two opportunistic marine pathogens (V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholera). Fermentation broth of strain HMALI004 was subjected to column chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography to separate antibacterial substances. Two compounds were successfully isolated and identified as 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid and 4-chloro-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid by mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance. The minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) values of 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid and 4-chloro-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid for V. parahaemolyticus were 25 μg/ml, while their MIC values for V. cholerae were 50 and 100 μg/ml, respectively. The reactive oxygen species (ROS) production of two pathogen strains treated with 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid and 4-chloro-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid were detected to investigate the antimicrobial mechanism. The results suggested that 4-chloro-1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid exerted enhanced ROS production in V. parahaemolyticus, whereas 1H-pyrrole-2-carboxylic acid had a weaker effect. Both compounds caused a significant rise in ROS production in V. cholerae, causing severe damage to the cell wall and cytoplasm, leading to cell death.

Conclusions: The bacterium H. marinus HMALI004 was isolated from a shrimp pond and was found to produce antimicrobial compounds, which could inhibit the growth of opportunistic marine pathogens V. parahaemolyticus and V. cholerae by increasing ROS.

Significance And Impact Of The Study: Successfully isolated antibacterial-producing strain, H. marinus HMALI004, and its antimicrobial compounds could be used as biological control agents for marine pathogens.