Antifungal mechanisms by which a novel Pseudomonas aeruginosa phenazine toxin kills Candida albicans in biofilms.

ABSTRACT: Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces several phenazines including the recently described 5-methyl-phenazine-1-carboxylic acid (5MPCA), which exhibits a novel antibiotic activity towards pathogenic fungi such as Candida albicans. Here we characterize the unique antifungal mechanisms of 5MPCA using its analogue phenazine methosulphate (PMS). Like 5MPCA, PMS induced fungal red pigmentation and killing. Mass spectrometry analyses demonstrated that PMS can be covalently modified by amino acids, a process that yields red derivatives. Furthermore, soluble proteins from C. albicans grown with either PMS or P. aeruginosa were also red and demonstrated absorbance and fluorescence spectra similar to that of PMS covalently linked to either amino acids or proteins in vitro, suggesting that 5MPCA modificatio

SUBMITTER: Morales DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3828654 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature