The multi-target antibiotic efficacy of Angelica dahurica Bentham et Hooker extract exposed to the Escherichia coli O157:H7

The appearance of the super bacteria arose from mis- or abuse of antibiotics lead to the increasing interest about strong and safety new antibiotics. Angelica dahurica Bentham et Hooker (ADBH) is a herbal antibiotic drug which has been frequently prescribed in oriental pharmacology and has historically proven to be effective for bacterial infection. However, the molecular mechanism of the herbal antibiotic has not been cleared. Here, we examined the ADBH’s antibiotic mechanism at the molecular level. We have focused on the simultaneous multi-target inhibitory effect of the of the ADBH ethyl acetate (EA) fraction on the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7. Disk diffusion and DNA microarray was performed to investigate the molecular mechanism of the ADBH’s antibiotic effect, and real-time quantitative PCR was employed to confirm the microarray data. The inhibitory effect of the ADBH EA fraction was on the bacterial cell envelope formation, folate biosynthesis, DNA replication and etiological factors of the E. coli O157:H7. This multi-target efficacy of the herbal antibiotic may be used as more effective and safer drugs that substitute existing antibiotics.