Browsing by Author "Beukes, Denzil R"

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    Antimicrobial discovery from South African marine algae
    (University of the Western Cape., 2018) Rufaro Mabande, Edmund; Beukes, Denzil R
    Antimicrobials are chemical compounds that destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The majority of these antimicrobials are actually natural products or natural product derived with key examples being the pioneer antibiotics penicillin and cephalosporin. Antimicrobials are an extremely important class of therapeutic agents; however, the development of drug resistance and slow pace of new antibiotic discovery is one of the major health issues facing the world today. There is therefore a crucial need to discover and develop new antibacterial agents. In this study, the potential of marine algae as a source of new antibiotics was explored. Crude organic extracts and chromatographic fractions obtained from small-scale extraction of 17 different marine algae were used to prepare a pre-fractionated library that would be tested against several disease causing microorganisms. The activity of the pre-fractionated library and purified compounds was determined against a panel of drug resistant microorganisms namely Acinetobacter baumannii ATCCBAA®-1605™, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC® 51299™, Escherichia coli ATCC® 25922™, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC® 33591™ and Candida albicans ATCC® 24433™. Finally, cytotoxicity tests of 50 selected library extracts and isolated compounds were done against two cell lines namely MCF-7 (breast cancer) and HEK-293 (kidney embryonic).
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    Antimicrobial discovery from South African marine algae
    (University of the Western Cape, 2018) Mabande, Edmund Rufaro; Beukes, Denzil R
    Antimicrobials are chemical compounds that destroy or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The majority of these antimicrobials are actually natural products or natural product derived with key examples being the pioneer antibiotics penicillin and cephalosporin. Antimicrobials are an extremely important class of therapeutic agents; however, the development of drug resistance and slow pace of new antibiotic discovery is one of the major health issues facing the world today. There is therefore a crucial need to discover and develop new antibacterial agents. In this study, the potential of marine algae as a source of new antibiotics was explored. Crude organic extracts and chromatographic fractions obtained from small-scale extraction of 17 different marine algae were used to prepare a pre-fractionated library that would be tested against several disease causing microorganisms. The activity of the pre-fractionated library and purified compounds was determined against a panel of drug resistant microorganisms namely Acinetobacter baumannii ATCCBAA®-1605™, Enterococcus faecalis ATCC® 51299™, Escherichia coli ATCC® 25922™, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus ATCC® 33591™ and Candida albicans ATCC® 24433™. Finally, cytotoxicity tests of 50 selected library extracts and isolated compounds were done against two cell lines namely MCF-7 (breast cancer) and HEK-293 (kidney embryonic). Based on their antimicrobial activity and interesting chemical profiles, the seaweeds Plocamium sp. and Stypopodium multipartitum were selected for further study. Three new and unusual halogenated monoterpenes (4.16, 4.17 and 4.18) were isolated from Plocamium sp., and an unusual meroditerpenoid (5.8) was isolated from Stypopodium multipartitum. The metabolites were purified using preparative (silica gel) chromatography as well as semipreparative normal phase HPLC. The structures of purified compounds were determined from spectroscopic data, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. A small library of 153 fractions was generated from collections of South African marine algae. Pre-fractionated crude extracts showed excellent antimicrobial activity against all microbes but particularly against Staphylococcus aureus. The compounds were generally active against the Gram positive bacteria and the yeast. In conclusion, three antimicrobial halogenated monoterpenes and an unusual monoterpene were isolated from a Plocamium sp. and Stypopodium multipartitum respectively. Antimicrobial activity of crude fractions was excellent but that of isolated compounds was not as great as anticipated.
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    Discovery of antibacterial lead compounds from marine organisms
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Afolayan, Omolola; Beukes, Denzil R; Trindade, Marla
    Marine organisms including algae and bacteria are known to produce chemically diverse secondary metabolites for survival purposes in the marine environment. Scientists have identified some of these natural products as therapeutic agents including some antibiotics. Given the increase in the resistance of pathogenic microorganisms especially methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis to commonly prescribed antibiotics, researchers have turned towards exploiting marine natural products for new antibacterial compounds. Due to the proven success of finding bioactive compounds in the marine environment this study therefore aims to discover lead compounds against MRSA and Mycobacterium tuberculosis from two marine sources, the marine algae and the bacteria associated with marine invertebrates referred to as bacterial isolates.