Estudio del mecanismo de acción de los metabolitos secundarios beudesmol, 1,4 terpineol, citral, timol y trans-dodecenal sobre los fosfolípidos fosfatidiletanolamina y fosfatidilglicerol, constitutivos de membranas bacterianas.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect on the structure of two phospholipids phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol, common in the constitution of the cell membranes of microorganisms, when they come into contact with secondary metabolites from essential oils and which have already been shown to have a high antimicrobial activity, either individually or as major constituents in essential oils. The metabolites used for this purpose were: 4-terpineol, citral, thymol, β-eudesmol and trans-dodecenal. The research initially analyzed the decrease in the concentration of phospholipids using a colorimetric technique. The results showed that phosphatidylethanolamine has no changes in its concentration, while phosphatidylglycerol showed a varied decrease in its concentration depending on contact with a certain metabolite. In a second part and considering the UV-Vis results, the structural variation on the derivatized phosphatidylglycerol was analyzed by mass spectrometry, to observe the fragments formed after being in contact with the metabolites under study. For the metabolites, additional peaks were obtained that demonstrated the rupture caused to the phospholipid, although, in metabolites such as β-eudesmol and citral, the number of peaks and their intensity were more intense, which could suggest a greater structural effect than in this case trans-dodecenal, thymol and 1,4-terpineol. In most cases, the fragments observed were segments of the alkyl chain belonging to the fatty acid, rupture of the phosphate group attached to glycerol, and also the complete release of the fatty acid.