DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v24i2.47

Keywords: Antibiofilm; anti-microbial peptides; Fejerverya cancrivora; frog’s mucus

Abstract

Bacterial biofilms are serious threats to human health as they are resistant to both human defence mechanisms and conventional antimicrobial agents. Biofilms can form on surfaces including those of medical devices and cause chronic infections that are difficult to treat, often requiring the use of large doses of antibiotics or the removal of the contaminated device. Anti-microbial peptides (AMPs) isolated from the skin secretion of frogs have been documented as promising anti-biofilm agents. Malaysia is rich in natural resources, including its rainforests, which are a habitat for amphibians. Hence, this study aimed to screen the mucus of the local frog Fejerverya cancrivora for potential antibiofilm agents against the biofilm former Staphylococcus epidermidis ATCC 35984. The antibiofilm activity of the mucus of F. cancrivora was recorded at the attachment, maturation and dispersion stages of biofilm formation, and found to be 97.67 %, 54.66 % and 11.21 %, respectively. The active antibiofilm component was then fractionated and further purified by C18 reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to single out peptides with antibiofilm activity. Peptide sequencing revealed a partial amino acid sequence with 67% similarity to an N-terminal bacterial protein belonging to the bacteriocin family. These results suggest that local frog species could be a potential source of antibiofilm peptides.