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BERBERINE EFFECTS BIOFILM FORMATION AND EXPRESSION OF LuxS AND VIRULENCE FACTORS IN Streptococcus suis

Chang Wang, Shuai Wang, Yanbei Yang, Yonghui Zhou, Jianqing Chen, Yanhua Li

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is an important pathogen of pigs, responsible for diverse diseases in swine and human. It is found to form biofilm in virtro and in vivo. luxS/AI-2 not only influences the formation of biofilm, but also bacterial virulence factors. Berberine is an isoquinoline-type alkaloid isolated from Copyidis rhizome and other herbs against bacteria. In this study, we observed that sub-minimal inhibitory concentrations (sub-MIC) of berberine (62.5μg•mL-1) were sufficient to exhibit an antibacterial effect and to inhibit biofilm formation significantly, as shown by the scanning electron microscopy. Real-time PCR showed that berberine decreased the amount of luxS-mRNA lower than that of negative control. Quantification of expression levels of known virulence genes by real-time PCR revealed that berberine on the transcription levels of the ef, sly and gapdh genes of biofilm formation were downregulated, while the gdh, cps and mrp genes were upregulated. To summarize the collective data demonstrated that berberine may regulate transcription levels of luxS/AI-2 and many virulence genes, and inhibit S. suis biofilm formation.