Title |
Hydrogen sulfide inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli through oxidative damage |
Author |
Liu-Hui Fu, Zeng-Zheng Wei, Kang-Di Hu, Lan-Ying Hu, Yan-Hong Li, Xiao-Yan Chen, Zhuo Han, Gai-Fang Yao*, and Hua Zhang* |
Address |
School of Food Science and Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, P. R. China |
Bibliography |
Journal of Microbiology, 56(4),238–245, 2018,
|
DOI |
10.1007/s12275-018-7537-1
|
Key Words |
hydrogen sulfide, Escherichia coli, oxidative stress,
DNA damage, antioxidative enzyme |
Abstract |
Many studies have shown that hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is both
detrimental and beneficial to animals and plants, whereas its
effect on bacteria is not fully understood. Here, we report that
H2S, released by sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS), significantly
inhibits the growth of Escherichia coli in a dose-dependent
manner. Further studies have shown that H2S treatment stimulates
the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and
decreases glutathione (GSH) levels in E. coli, resulting in lipid
peroxidation and DNA damage. H2S also inhibits the antioxidative
enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD),
catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR) and induces
the response of the SoxRS and OxyR regulons in E. coli. Moreover,
pretreatment with the antioxidant ascorbic acid (AsA)
could effectively prevent H2S-induced toxicity in E. coli. Taken
together, our results indicate that H2S exhibits an antibacterial
effect on E. coli through oxidative damage and suggest
a possible application for H2S in water and food processing. |