Purification of a lectin from Eugenia uniflora L. seeds and its potential antibacterial activity

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this work was to analyse the antimicrobial properties of a purified lectin from Eugenia uniflora L. seeds. Methods and Results: The E. uniflora lectin (EuniSL) was isolated from the seed extract and purified by ion‐exchange chromatography in DEAE‐Sephadex with a purification factor of 11·68. The purified lectin showed a single band on denaturing electrophoresis, with a molecular mass of 67 kDa. EuniSL agglutinated rabbit and human erythrocytes with a higher specificity for rabbit erythrocytes. The haemagglutination was not inhibited by the tested carbohydrates but glycoproteins exerted a strong inhibitory action. The lectin proved to be thermo resistant with the highest stability at pH 6·5 and divalent ions did not affect its activity. EuniSL demonstrated a remarkable nonselective antibacterial activity. EuniSL strongly inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella sp. with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1·5 μg ml−1, and moderately inhibited the growth of Bacillus subtilis, Streptococcus sp. and Escherichia coli with a MIC of 16·5 μg ml−1. Conclusions: EuniSL was found to be effective against bacteria. Significance and Impact of the Study: The strong antibacterial activity of the studied lectin indicates a high potential for clinical microbiology and therapeutic applications.

Antimicrobial Activities of Lectins Extracted from Some Cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris Seeds

“…These concentrations were being enough to mediate an effective antimicrobial activity against Klebsiella pneumonia and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans, respectively. The previous results matched with those obtained by Oliveira et al [7].…”

“…The binding capacity of lectins could be the cause of its biological activities against bacteria, fungi, viruses and tumor [7][8][9][10]. The interaction of lectin with teichoic and teichuronic acids, peptidoglycans and lipopolysaccharides present in bacterial cell walls are responsible for its antibacterial activity [11].…”

Antioxidant capacity and composition of pitanga seeds

“…Therefore, the insoluble dietary fiber of pitanga seeds could be evaluated for use in human and/or animal nutrition. However, it is important to evaluate if the lectins recently described in pitanga seeds (OLIVEIRA et al, 2008) could be a limiting factor for this application. Table 2 presents the fatty acid composition of pitanga seeds.…”

“…Besides, the essential oil from pitanga fruits contains β-ocimene (7.4%), α-selinene (7.2%), β-selinene (5.2%), germacrene B (7.2%) and hexadecanoic acid (11.7%) and was demonstrated to have an interesting antioxidant activity (MARIN et al, 2008). However, few studies were found on bioactive compounds from pitanga seeds (OLIVEIRA et al, 2008).…”

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“…cancer), including as main components of microarrays (Gemeiner et al 2009). Antimicrobial activity of lectins has been reported in the literature against fungi and bacteria (Oliveira et al 2008;Gomes et al 2013). The toxicity of lectins has also been studied ensuring their safe use in human health (Rolim et al 2011).…”