Biocomputational Assessment of Natural Compounds as a Potent Inhibitor to Quorum Sensors in Ralstonia solanacearum

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 27; no. 9; p. 3034
• Main Authors: Kumar, Sunil, Ahmad, Khurshid, Behera, Santosh Kumar, Nagrale, Dipak T, Chaurasia, Anurag, Yadav, Manoj Kumar, Murmu, Sneha, Jha, Yachana, Rajawat, Mahendra Vikram Singh, Malviya, Deepti, Singh, Udai B, Shankar, Raja, Tripathy, Minaketan, Singh, Harsh Vardhan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 09.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Bacteria; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Binding sites; Energy; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Geographical distribution; Ligands; Metabolites; molecular docking; Molecular dynamics; Molecular orbitals; Molecular structure; natural compounds; Pathogens; PhcA and PhcR; Phenotypes; Proteins; Quorum sensing; Quorum Sensing - genetics; Ralstonia solanacearum; Simulation; Virulence; Canada; United States > US; natural compounds; molecular docking; PhcA and PhcR; Ralstonia solanacearum; quorum-sensing
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules27093034

is among the most damaging bacterial phytopathogens with a wide number of hosts and a broad geographic distribution worldwide. The pathway of phenotype conversion (Phc) is operated by quorum-sensing signals and modulated through the (R)-methyl 3-hydroxypalmitate (3-OH PAME) in . However, the molecular structures of the Phc pathway components are not yet established, and the structural consequences of 3-OH PAME on quorum sensing are not well studied. In this study, 3D structures of quorum-sensing proteins of the Phc pathway (PhcA and PhcR) were computationally modeled, followed by the virtual screening of the natural compounds library against the predicted active site residues of PhcA and PhcR proteins that could be employed in limiting signaling through 3-OH PAME. Two of the best scoring common ligands ZINC000014762512 and ZINC000011865192 for PhcA and PhcR were further analyzed utilizing orbital energies such as HOMO and LUMO, followed by molecular dynamics simulations of the complexes for 100 ns to determine the ligands binding stability. The findings indicate that ZINC000014762512 and ZINC000011865192 may be capable of inhibiting both PhcA and PhcR. We believe that, after further validation, these compounds may have the potential to disrupt bacterial quorum sensing and thus control this devastating phytopathogenic bacterial pathogen.