AUTHOR=Rammali Said , Ciobică Alin , El Aalaoui Mohamed , Rahim Abdellatif , Kamal Fatima Zahra , Dari Khadija , Khattabi Abdelkrim , Romila Laura , Novac Bogdan , Petroaie Antoneta , Bencharki Bouchaib 

TITLE=Exploring the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Lentzea flaviverrucosa strain E25-2 isolated from Moroccan forest soil

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1429035

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1429035

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>The alarming rise in antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has created a significant public health challenge, necessitating the discovery of new therapeutic agents to combat infectious diseases and oxidative stress-related disorders. The <italic>Lentzea flaviverrucosa</italic> strain E25-2, isolated from Moroccan forest soil, represents a potential avenue for such research. This study aimed to identify the isolate E25-2, obtained from soil in a cold Moroccan ecosystem, and further investigate its antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed the strain’s classification within the <italic>Lentzea</italic> genus, with a sequence closely resembling that of <italic>Lentzea flaviverrucosa</italic> AS4.0578 (96.10% similarity). Antimicrobial activity in solid media showed moderate to strong activity against <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> ATCC 25923, <italic>Bacillus cereus</italic> strain ATCC 14579, <italic>Escherichia coli</italic> strain ATCC 25922, <italic>Candida albicans</italic> strain ATCC 60193 and 4 phytopathogenic fungi. In addition, ethyl acetate extract of this isolate demonstrated potent antimicrobial activity against 7 clinically multi-drug resistant bacteria. Furthermore, it demonstrated antioxidant activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) free radicals, as well as a significant increase in ferric reducing antioxidant power. A significant positive correlation was observed between antioxidant activities and total content of phenolic compounds (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001), along with flavonoids (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.0001). Furthermore, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of amines, hydroxyl groups, pyridopyrazinone rings, esters and pyrrolopyrazines. The <italic>Lentzea</italic> genus could offer promising prospects in the fight against antibiotic resistance and in the prevention against oxidative stress related diseases.</p>