AUTHOR=Yu Huijie , Pei Juxin , Qiu Weiqiang , Mei Jun , Xie Jing 

TITLE=The Antimicrobial Effect of Melissa officinalis L. Essential Oil on Vibrio parahaemolyticus: Insights Based on the Cell Membrane and External Structure

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.812792

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2022.812792

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The study was to evaluate the antimicrobial impacts on <italic>Melissa officinalis</italic> L. essential oil (MOEO) against <italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic>. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of MOEO on <italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic> was 1 μL⋅mL<sup>–1</sup>. The kill-time curve exhibited that MOEO had good antimicrobial activity. The analysis of cellular ingredients leakage and cell viability illustrated that MOEO has destruction to the morphology of the cell membrane. The damage to the membrane integrity by MOEO has been confirmed by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, obvious morphological and ultrastructural changes were observed in the treated bacterial cells. The MOEO at 0.5 μL⋅mL<sup>–1</sup> can inhibit the biofilm formation, biofilm motility, and extracellular polysaccharide production. Meanwhile, the qPCR results exhibited MOEO inhibited the expression of virulence genes. The findings showed that MOEO exerted its antimicrobial effect mainly by destroying the membrane, which indicated its potential as a natural food preservative.</p>