Assessment of the antibacterial mechanism of pterostilbene against Bacillus cereus. - GreenMedInfo Summary

Foods contaminated by harmful substances such as bacteria and viruses have caused more than 200 kinds of diseases, ranging from diarrhea to cancer. Among them,() is a foodborne pathogen that commonly contaminates raw meat, fresh vegetables, rice, and uncooked food. The current chemical preservatives may have adverse effects on food and even human health. Therefore, natural antibacterial agents are sought after as alternative preservatives. Stilbene compounds, including pterostilbene (PT), pinostilbene (PS), and piceatannol (PIC), which have many health benefits and exhibit antibacterial activity, were tested against. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) of PT, PS, and PIC againstranged from 25 to 100μg/mL. From the time-kill curve assay, PT reducedcell survival, increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), and induced apoptosis-like cell death (ALD) in a dose-dependent manner. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) results confirmed that treatment with PT induced genetic changes related to ALD, such as an increase in RecA gene expression and a decrease in LexA gene expression. In addition, PT showed a beneficial effect on the gut microbiota that increased the abundance ofand lowered the abundance of. Taken together, our results showed that PT has antibacterial effects againstvia ALD and is beneficial for promoting healthy gut microbiota that is worthy for the development of antibacterial agents for the food industry.