Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research
Project Number: 3020-43440-002-019-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2020
End Date: Aug 31, 2025
Objective:
The objective of this study is to determine the effects of sorghum extracts on growth and/or survival of Staphylococcus aureus in culture.
Approach:
Cooperator will determine growth kinetics of S. aureus when grown in varying concentrations of sorghum extracts. This will be performed in microtiter assays over a range of extract concentrations. This will be tested on several different S. aureus isolates. If extracts are found to inhibit S. aureus growth, a minimal inhibitory concentration will be determined. This will be followed by determining if the extracts are bacteriostatic or bactericidal using colony forming unit determination after exposure to extracts. In addition to antimicrobial potential, there is a need to identify compounds that suppress virulence-factor production. After identifying suppressor compounds, extracts will also be tested to determine if they impact virulence factor expression. This will be tested using beta-galactosidase reporter plasmids for common virulence factors. Finally, it is possible for the extracts to not have direct antibacterial activity, but have the potential to stimulate the immune response to kill bacteria. To test this, we will test the potential for sorghum extracts to stimulate murine bone marrow-derived macrophages to kill S. aureus.
