Anti-MRSA action of Papenfussiella kuromo

Papenfussiella kuromo (PK) is a marine plant and an abundant ecological resource for the future; it is found in almost 80% of the terrestrial biosphere. The aim of this study was to investigate the antibacterial activity of PK against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), multidrug-resistant pathogen. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of PK hexane fraction (PKH) against 7 strains of MRSA ranged from 1.0 to 2.0 mg/mL. In the checkerboard dilution method, a synergistic effect of the PKH and the antibiotics (oxacillin and norfloxacin) was seen. PKH markedly reduced the MIC of each of the 4 antibiotics against MRSA. The time-kill assay showed that the synergistic activity of PKH and an antibiotic reduced the bacterial counts below the lowest detectable limit after 24 h. These findings suggest that PKH has antibacterial activity, and may be important baseline data in future extensive studies of living marine resources as a source of compounds active against MRSA.