Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Bovine mastitis (BM) presents a high incidence, being Staphylococcus aureus one of the major causative agents.
Antibiotics comprise the most common therapeutic approach, but due to their indiscriminate use, high rates of
increasingly resistant bacterial species have been markedly pointed out. Particularly, S. aureus possesses a pronounced
ability to form biofilms, and therefore, are of pivotal interest due to its alarming pathogenicity. The
present study investigates the antibacterial properties of Eucalyptus globulus methanol: water extracts, alone and in
combination with Juglans regia, against S. aureus isolates from BM. All isolates and reference strain proved to be
good biofilm producers after 24 h of bacterial growth. Individually, the studied plant extracts (PE) lead to a
considerable biofilm cells reduction, but their combination revealed to be the most effective strategy. When tested
in combination, both extracts led to a 3 and 5 log reduction for S. aureus ATCC 25923 and S. aureus 1, respectively.
Based on these findings, both PE seem to be promissory antimicrobial agents for upcoming use on dairy industry
contaminations, BM and even S. aureus-triggered food poisoning. Further studies are needed to understand which
of the compounds present in the extracts are responsible for the observed effects, including their corresponding
modes of action.
Description
Keywords
Microbiology
Citation
Gomes, Fernanda; Martins, Natália; Ferreira, Isabel C.F.R.; Henriques, Mariana (2019). Anti-biofilm activity of hydromethanolic plant extracts against Staphylococcus aureus isolates from bovine mastitis. Heliyon. ISSN 2405-8440. 5, p.