Antifungal activity, kinetics and molecular mechanism of action of garlic oil against Candida albicans

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 6; no. 1; p. 22805
• Main Authors: Li, Wen-Ru, Shi, Qing-Shan, Dai, Huan-Qin, Liang, Qing, Xie, Xiao-Bao, Huang, Xiao-Mo, Zhao, Guang-Ze, Zhang, Li-Xin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.03.2016; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/154/349; 631/326/22/1292; Adenylate kinase; Allyl Compounds - pharmacokinetics; Allyl Compounds - pharmacology; Antifungal activity; Antifungal Agents - pharmacokinetics; Antifungal Agents - pharmacology; Candida albicans - drug effects; Candida albicans - genetics; Cell cycle; Cell Death; Electron microscopy; Endoplasmic reticulum; Food; Food poisoning; Garlic; Gel electrophoresis; Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal - drug effects; Genes, Fungal - drug effects; Heat shock proteins; Hexokinase; Humanities and Social Sciences; Kinases; Kinetics; Mass spectrometry; Mass spectroscopy; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Mitochondria; multidisciplinary; Organelles; Oxidation; Oxidation-reduction potential; Oxidative phosphorylation; Phosphorylation; Proteins; Pyruvate decarboxylase; Pyruvic acid; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Fungal - drug effects; Science; Sequence Analysis, RNA; Starvation; Sulfides - pharmacokinetics; Sulfides - pharmacology; Transmission electron microscopy
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep22805

The antifungal activity, kinetics and molecular mechanism of action of garlic oil against Candida albicans were investigated in this study using multiple methods. Using the poisoned food technique, we determined that the minimum inhibitory concentration of garlic oil was 0.35 μg/mL. Observation by transmission electron microscopy indicated that garlic oil could penetrate the cellular membrane of C. albicans as well as the membranes of organelles such as the mitochondria, resulting in organelle destruction and ultimately cell death. RNA sequencing analysis showed that garlic oil induced differential expression of critical genes including those involved in oxidation-reduction processes, pathogenesis and cellular response to drugs and starvation. Moreover, the differentially expressed genes were mainly clustered in 19 KEGG pathways, representing vital cellular processes such as oxidative phosphorylation, the spliceosome, the cell cycle and protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, four upregulated proteins selected after two-dimensional fluorescence difference in gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) analysis were identified with high probability by mass spectrometry as putative cytoplasmic adenylate kinase, pyruvate decarboxylase, hexokinase and heat shock proteins. This is suggestive of a C. albicans stress responses to garlic oil treatment. On the other hand, a large number of proteins were downregulated, leading to significant disruption of the normal metabolism and physical functions of C. albicans .