African Journal of
Microbiology Research

  • Abbreviation: Afr. J. Microbiol. Res.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 1996-0808
  • DOI: 10.5897/AJMR
  • Start Year: 2007
  • Published Articles: 5236

Full Length Research Paper

The effect of Thymus vulgaris on growth and biofilm formation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli

Flores-Encarnacion M.
  • Flores-Encarnacion M.
  • Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma dePuebla, México.
  • Google Scholar
Nava-Nolazco R. M.
  • Nava-Nolazco R. M.
  • Laboratorio de Microbiología Molecular Celular, Facultad de Medicina, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma dePuebla, México.
  • Google Scholar
Aguilar-Gutierrez G. R.
  • Aguilar-Gutierrez G. R.
  • Centro de Investigación Sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.
  • Google Scholar
Carreno-Lopez R.
  • Carreno-Lopez R.
  • Centro de Investigaciones Microbiológicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, México.
  • Google Scholar
Carreno-Lóopez R.
  • Carreno-Lóopez R.
  • Centro de Investigaciones Microbiológicas, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, México.
  • Google Scholar


  •  Received: 23 November 2017
  •  Accepted: 24 January 2018
  •  Published: 14 March 2018

Abstract

Currently, a problem related to public health is resistance to antibiotics because bacteria have been identified to be resistant. It has been reported that bacteria have developed resistance mechanisms to evade the effect of drugs, especially antibiotics. A resistance mechanism to antibiotics is biofilm formation. The biofilms are microbial communities embedded in an extracellular polymeric matrix and are ubiquitous in the microbial world. In recent years, there has been a special interest in studying new antimicrobial strategies to solve the great problem of resistance to antibiotics; thus, the use of essential oils could be an alternative to fight infections caused by biofilm forming bacteria. It has also been reported that essential oils have antiviral and antibacterial properties. In the present work, the effect of Thymus vulgaris on growth and biofilm formation of uropathogenic Escherichia coli was studied. This study demonstrated the strong effect of T. vulgaris essential oil on the growth and biofilm formation of uropathogenic E. coli.

Key words: Thymus vulgaris, biofilm, Escherichia coli, uropathogenic, growth.