An integrated systematic study for identification of antimicrobial compounds from Bacillus amyloliquefaciences

Authors: Li, Charles; YAN, XIANGHE - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); YANG, YISHAN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); Nou, Xiangwu; Sun, Zhifeng; Lillehoj, Hyun; LU, MINGMIN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); HARLOW, KALYNN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA); Rivera-Colon, Israel

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2024
Publication Date: 8/1/2024
Citation: Li, C.Z., Yan, X., Yang, Y., Nou, X., Sun, Z., Lillehoj, H.S., Lu, M., Harlow, K., Rivera-Colon, I. 2024. An integrated systematic study for identification of antimicrobial compounds from Bacillus amyloliquefaciences. Poultry Science. 103. Article e103871. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103871.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2024.103871

Interpretive Summary: Clostridium perfringens is a harmful germ that can cause a disease called necrotic enteritis in chickens. The rise of the incidence of this disease in chickens is found to be associated with the ban of antibiotic growth promoters in animal feed. This disease is a big problem for the poultry industry, costing about six billion dollars every year. To deal with this issue, researchers have been looking for alternatives to antibiotics in chicken feed, like certain friendly bacteria called Bacillus probiotics. These probiotics seem to work against the disease, but we don't fully understand how they do it. Our study looked at substances produced by two specific types of Bacillus bacteria, called Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (Ba). These substances were good at killing/suppressing Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium perfringens germs in lab tests. We also looked at the genetic information of many Ba bacteria and found that the ones known to fight Clostridium perfringens are very similar. We also found that these bacteria could produce about seven different substances that can kill or suppress germs, which we discovered by studying their genes. Our research might help us better understand how these Bacillus bacteria fight Clostridium perfringens and could lead to the development of new germ-fighting medicines.

Technical Abstract: Clostridium perfringens is a major opportunistic pathogen that may etiologically result in necrotic enteritis (NE), one of the most financially devastating bacterial diseases in broiler chickens responsible for an estimated loss of six billion US dollars annually for the global poultry industry. To mitigate the adverse effects of the ban on in-feed antimicrobial additives in the poultry industry caused by NE, multiple antibiotic alternatives, including Bacillus probiotics, have been tested and shown to be effective against NE. However, the modes of action remain undefined. In this manuscript, the supernatants from two Bacillus amyloliquefaciens (Ba) strains were found to have potent in vitro anti-C. perfringens activities. Dozens of B. amyloliquefaciencs genomes have been analyzed. Interestingly, the known strains with anti-C. perfringens activities are clustered closely. About seven antimicrobial compounds were projected to be generated as secondary metabolites analyzed by antiSMASH genomic mining from the published genomes of B. amyloliquefaciencs species. The findings of this study could provide insights into the understanding of Ba modes of action against C. perfringens and contribute to the design of new antimicrobial agents.