Wild daisy compound outperforms its own lab-made copies against bacteria
Medicinal Plants
The scrubby, aromatic Helichrysum shrubs some gardeners grow for their papery 'everlasting' flowers carry a natural chemical arsenal that science is only now starting to map for potential antibiotic use.
Researchers took a wild South African daisy relative called Helichrysum foetidum and pulled out its natural chemical compounds, one of which, foetidumin A, turned out to be a strong bacteria fighter. When chemists tried tweaking that molecule in the lab to make new versions, the originals actually worked better, suggesting the plant's own design is hard to improve on.
Key Findings
Foetidumin A showed strong activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC = 4.7 µg/mL) and against Mycobacterium smegmatis and Bacillus subtilis (MIC = 9.4 µg/mL)
Three new semisynthetic derivatives (1a, 1b, 1d) were created from foetidumin A, but showed only moderate activity (MIC = 37.5-75 µg/mL) compared to the original
Molecular docking simulations showed that as the compound's structure was chemically altered further from its natural form, it bound less effectively to the bacterial target site (4OAD)
chevron_right Technical Summary
Chemists isolated a natural compound called foetidumin A from an everlasting daisy plant and found it fights several disease-causing bacteria, including a tough hospital pathogen, better than the lab-made versions they created from it.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Synthesis, antibacterial activity and molecular docking studies of foetidumin A derivatives
A chemical reinvestigation of the <i>n</i>-hexane soluble portion of the methanolic extract obtained from the leaves of <i>Helichrysum foetidum</i> Moench. afforded five known secondary metabolites...
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