Antimicrobial activity of methanolic extracts of Vernonia cinerea against Xanthomonas oryzae and identification of their compounds using in silico techniques

PLoS One. 2021 Jun 14;16(6):e0252759. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0252759. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Bacterial Leaf Blight (BLB) disease is an extremely ruinous disease in rice, caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo). Although various chemicals are available to manage BLB, they are toxic to the environment as well as humans. Hence there is a need to develop new pesticides as alternatives to hazardous chemicals. Therefore, a study was carried out to discover new potent natural pesticides against Xoo from different solvent extracts of Vernonia cinerea. Among all the fractions, the methanolic extract showed the highest inhibition zone. Further, to gain mechanistic insight of inhibitory action, 40 molecules of methanolic extracts were subjected for in silico study against two enzymes D-alanine-D-alanine ligase (Ddl) and Peptide deformylase (PDF). In silico study showed Rutin and Methanone, [1,4-dimethyl-7-(1- methylethyl)-2- azulenyl]phenyl have a good binding affinity with Ddl while Phenol, 2,4-bis(1-phenylethyl)- and 1,2-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, diisooctyl ester showed an excellent binding affinity to PDF. Finally, the system biology approach was applied to understand the agrochemical's effect in the cell system of bacteria against both the enzymes. Conclusively, these four-hit compounds may have strong potential against Xoo and can be used as biopesticides in the future.

MeSH terms

  • Amidohydrolases / chemistry
  • Amidohydrolases / metabolism
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / chemistry
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Ligands
  • Methanol / chemistry
  • Molecular Docking Simulation
  • Peptide Synthases / chemistry
  • Peptide Synthases / metabolism
  • Phthalic Acids / analysis
  • Phthalic Acids / chemistry
  • Phthalic Acids / pharmacology
  • Plant Extracts / chemistry
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Protein Binding
  • Rutin / analysis
  • Rutin / chemistry
  • Rutin / pharmacology
  • Veronica / chemistry*
  • Xanthomonas / drug effects*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Ligands
  • Phthalic Acids
  • Plant Extracts
  • Rutin
  • Amidohydrolases
  • peptide deformylase
  • Peptide Synthases
  • D-alanylalanine synthetase
  • Methanol

Supplementary concepts

  • Xanthomonas oryzae

Grants and funding

The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.