ARS | Publication request: Plant Natural Compounds with Antibacterial Activity Towards Common Pathogens of Pond-Cultured Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

Submitted to: Toxins
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: June 25, 2010
Publication Date: June 28, 2010
Citation: Schrader, K. 2010. Plant Natural Compounds with Antibacterial Activity Towards Common Pathogens of Pond-Cultured Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Toxins. 2:1676-1689.

Interpretive Summary: Compounds produced by plants were evaluated for their toxicity toward several types of bacteria that cause disease in pond-raised channel catfish in the southeastern United States. The compounds chelerythrine chloride and ellagic acid were toxic to all types of bacteria used in the study. The natural compound wogonin was the most toxic toward two types of disease-causing bacteria.

Technical Abstract: The bacteria Edwardsiella ictaluri and Flavobacterium columnare cause enteric septicemia and columnaris disease, respectively, in channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Natural therapeutants may provide an alternative to current management approaches used by producers. In this study, a rapid bioassay identified plant compounds as potential therapeutants. Chelerythrine chloride and ellagic acid were the most toxic toward E. ictaluri, with 24-h IC50 of 7.3 mg/L and 15.1 mg/L, respectively, and MIC of 2.1 mg/L and 6.5 mg/L, respectively. Chelerythrine chloride, ellagic acid, B-glycyrrhetinic acid, sorgoleone, and wogonin were the most toxic towards two genotypes of F. columnare, and wogonin had the strongest antibacterial activity (MIC = 0.3 mg/L).