Microbial resistance to classical antibiotics and its rapid progression have raised serious concern in the treatment of infectious diseases. Recently, many studies have been directed towards finding promising solutions to overcome these problems. Phytochemicals have exerted potential antibacterial activities against sensitive and resistant pathogens via different mechanisms of action. In this review, we have summarized the main antibiotic resistance mechanisms of bacteria and also discussed how phytochemicals belonging to different chemical classes could reverse the antibiotic resistance. Next to containing direct antimicrobial activities, some of them have exerted in vitro synergistic effects when being combined with conventional antibiotics. Considering these facts, it could be stated that phytochemicals represent a valuable source of bioactive compounds with potent antimicrobial activities.

/pdf/review-on-plant-antimicrobials-a-mechanistic-viewpoint-4pdgd1lkce.pdf

Review on plant antimicrobials: a mechanistic viewpoint

Studies on new antibacterial therapeutics and strategies are currently being conducted in many microbiological, pharmaceutical and biochemical laboratories. The antibacterial activity of plant-derived compounds as well as silver and gold nanoparticles is the subject of this minireview. The application of photodynamic therapy is also discussed.

/pdf/new-antibacterial-therapeutics-and-strategies-17nai905sw.pdf

New antibacterial therapeutics and strategies.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of dehydroabietic acid derivatives.

Dual-functional antimicrobial coating based on a quaternary ammonium salt from rosin acid with in vitro and in vivo antimicrobial and antifouling properties

https://www.uv.es/gonzalma/articles/EJMC2014.pdf

Synthetic derivatives of aromatic abietane diterpenoids and their biological activities.

The wide potential of resin acids as bioactive agents gave rise to a growing effort in the search for new applications of the natural forms and their derivatives. In some of these compounds, the antimicrobial activity is associated to the presence in the molecules of functional groups such as the hydroxyl, aldehyde, and ketone or to their cis or trans configurations. The resin acid family covers a spectrum of antimicrobial activities against several microorganisms, from bacteria to fungi, in which the mode of action was studied by electron microscopy. The morphological alterations are consistent with an unspecific mode of action causing inhibition of the fungal growth or damaging the fungal cells in parallel with a mechanism of resistance based on the retention of the compound by the lipid accumulation. The sterol composition of phytopathogenic fungi Botrytis cinerea and Lophodermium seditiosum treated with methyl cis-7-oxo-deisopropyldehydroabietate revealed the presence of ergosterol (M+ 396) and dihydroergosterol (M+ 398) in both cultures showing that this compound did not interfere with the ergosterol metabolic pathway of both fungi.

Sonia Savluchinske-Feio

Papers

Antimicrobial activity of resin acid derivatives.

Activity of dehydroabietic acid derivatives against wood contaminant fungi.