05) slightly decreased cell growth (Figure 4B). The growth rate of P. alvei was 1.38 ± 0.08/h in the absence of the CCI-779 clinical trial indole derivatives in LB medium, whereas the growth rate was 1.30 ± 0.01/h with indole (1 mM) and 1.27 ± 0.01/h with 3-indolylacetonitrile (1 mM). In DSM medium, the growth rate of P. alvei was 0.19 ± 0.01/h in the absence of the indole derivatives, whereas the Selleck Tariquidar growth rate was 0.17 ± 0.01/h with indole (1 mM) and 0.15 ± 0.01/h with 3-indolylacetonitrile

(1 mM). Therefore, indole and 3-indolylacetonitrile were not toxic to P. alvei and the inhibitory effect of the heat resistance was mostly due to the function of indole and 3-indolylacetonitrile rather than growth inhibition. Indole contributes to low survival against environmental stresses Since endospores are remarkably resistant to heat as well as various chemicals [28, 29], we presumed that indole also decreased the resistance to environmental stresses, such as treatment with antibiotics, ethanol and low pH. As expected, indole decreased the survival rates with three antibiotics (tetracycline, erythromycin, and chloramphenicol) and when exposed to low pH and 70% ethanol (Figure 5). For example, indole decreased tetracycline resistance 5.4-fold, erythromycin resistance 6.7-fold, and chloramphenicol

resistance 4-fold, and the survival rates with ethanol 8.5-fold and pH 4.0 21-fold, respectively. These results are a good match with the sporulation results (Figure 2). Figure 5 Effect of indole on stress-resistance AZD6738 chemical structure of P. alvei. The cells (an initial turbidity of 0.05 at 600 nm) were grown in spore forming DSM medium for 16 h. After the 16 h incubation, cells (1 ml) were placed in contact with antibiotics, 70% ethanol, and pH 4.0 LB for 1 h. Tet, Em, and Cm

stand for tetracycline (1 mg/ml), erythromycin (5 mg/ml), and chloramphenicol (1 mg/ml), respectively. EtOH and pH 4.0 stand for 70% ethanol and pH 4.0 LB, respectively. Each experiment was repeated two to four times and one standard deviation is shown. Effect of indole on the survival of B. subtilis spores Since P. alvei belongs to the same Bacillales order see more including B. subtilis (the most studied spore-forming bacterium), the effect of indole and 3-indolylacetonitrile was investigated in B. subtilis that did not produce indole (data not shown). Unlike P. alvei, indole and 3-indolylacetonitrile had no impact on the heat resistance in B. subtilis, while glucose treatment as a negative control significantly decreased the heat-resistant CFU (Figure 6). Hence, it appeared that the action mechanism of indole was different between indole-producing P. alvei and non-indole-producing B. subtilis. Figure 6 Effect of indole and 3-indolylacetonitrile on the heat-resistant CFU of B. subtilis. Glucose (0.5% w/v), indole (1 mM) and 3-indolylacetonitrile (1 mM) were added at the beginning of culture, and cells (an initial turbidity of 0.05 at 600 nm) were grown in spore forming DSM medium at 37°C for 16 h.