• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.319-323
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• 2005

The aim of the present study was to evaluate systemic bioavailability of surfactin and to determine its pharmacokinetic profiles. The stability of surfactin to pH, temperature and protease was evaluated. Surfactin was resistant to high temperature, a wide range of pH and the action of hydrolytic enzymes. The pharmacokinetic natures of surfactin which were shown the short half-life, rapid clearance and poor bioavailability. The results of study should provide preliminary data of surfactin for further dose-finding studies and for the design of application forms. It is also be important to a context of the safety of surfactin.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.81-88
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• 2011

The anti-phytoplasma activities of surfactin (derived from Iranian native Bacillus subtilis isolates) and tetracycline towards Candidatus "Phytoplasma aurantifolia", the agent of lime Witches' broom disease, were investigated. HPLC was used to quantify the surfactin production in four previously characterized native surfactin-producing strains, and the one producing the highest amount of surfactin (about 1,500 mg/l) was selected and cultivated following optimized production and extraction protocols. Different combinations of purified surfactin and commercial tetracycline were injected into artificially phytoplasmainfected Mexican lime seedlings using a syringe injection system. An absolute quantitative real-time PCR system was developed to monitor the phytoplasma population shifts in the lime phloem during 3 months following the injections. The results revealed that the injections of surfactin or tetracycline had a significant inhibitory effect on Candidatus "P. aurantifolia". However, the combined treatment with both surfactin and tetracycline (1:1) resulted in the highest inhibition due to a synergic effect, which suppressed the phytoplasma population from about $2{\times}10^5$ to less than 10 phytoplasma units/g plant tissue.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.39-43
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• 2005

The present study was carried out to investigate the antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus with antibiotic-resistance in vitro and the skin irritation in rabbits with surfactin produced by Bacillus subtilus Complex BC1212. The antibacterial activities of selected antimicrobial agents (surfactin, amoxacillin, colistin, norfloxacin and streptomycin) were evaluated by using the broth microdilution method. As the results, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the surfactin was less than 15.6 ㎍/ml. In the skin irritation test, two out of 4 rabbits showed very slight edema at 24 h after the administration of surfactin, and then recovered at 72 h. The change of body weight was normal during the skin irritation test. The primary irritation index in accordance with the Draize evaluation of topical reaction was calculated to be '0.125', which meant not irritating. Based on these results, it could be concluded that the test agent, surfactin, was a non-irritant. We could also think that the surfactin may be useful for the treatment of S. aureus infections such as bovine mastitis.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.47-50
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• 2009

To investigate the mutation inducibility of surfactin C, we performed the chromosome aberration assay with Chinese hamster lung cells in vitro. The colorimetric MTT screening assay was carried out to determine the cytotoxicity index ($IC_{50}$) of surfactin C. The $IC_{50}$ value was $125{\mu}g/ml$. For the chromosome aberration test of surfactin C, the maximum concentration was employed as $125{\mu}g/ml$, followed by 62.5 and $31.25{\mu}g/ml$ for the lower concentrations, with or without metabolic activation (S9). Cyclophosphamide and mitomycin C were used as positive controls in the presence and absence of S9 metabolic activation, respectively. These results showed that surfactin C was not capable of inducing chromosome aberration, as measured by the chromosome aberration test using Chinese hamster lung cell line. There is no evidence for surfactin C to have a genotoxic potential.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.311-320
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• 2023

Surfactin, one of the most powerful biosurfactants, can be widely applied in agriculture, food, and pharmaceutics. The purpose of the present study was to establish suitable indicators for a rapid detection method that can confirm the surfactin productivity of cheonggukjang. In the present study, changes in the total number of bacteria were quantified according to the fermentation time of chenggukjang. Furthermore, physicochemical factors, such as pH, color value, surface tension, refractive index, absorbance, and protein contents, were assessed in chenggukjang viscous substances, and a correlation analysis between the physicochemical factors and surfactin contents was performed. We found that the protein contents gradually increased up to 48 h (4.21±0.11 mg/mL) without a change in the surface tension. Furthermore, the refractive index, absorbance at 280 nm, and color value were significantly increased as the fermentation time increased; however, there were no statistically significant differences after 36 h of fermentation. Interestingly, this result exhibited a tendency similar to the surfactin content according to fermentation time. These findings suggest that surfactin can be used as a suitable quality indicator and may provide an experimental basis for the fermented food industry.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.859-865
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• 2003

Surfactin is a mixture of cyclic lipopeptides built from variants of a heptapeptide and a ${\beta}-hydroxy$ fatty acid produced by several strains of Bacillus sp. Surfactin isoforms produced by endophytic Bacillus sp. CY22 from a balloon flower were isolated and characterized. It was found that the purified surfactin had three isoforms with protonated masses of m/z 1,008, 1,022, and 1,036, and different structures in combination with Na, K, Ca ions using MALDI-TOF MS, ESI-MS/MS, and ICP MS, respectively. In the MS/MS analysis, the isolated surfactin had the identical amino acid sequence (LLVDLL) and hydroxy fatty acids (with 13 to 15 carbons in length), even though isolated from different Bacillus strains. The sfp22 gene, required for producing the surfactin, consisted of an open reading frame (ORF) of 675 bp encoding 224 amino acid residues with a signal peptide of 20 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence of sfp22 was very similar to that of Ipa-8.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.1984-1989
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• 2008

Surfactin is a natural biosurfactant derived from Bacillus subtilis and has various biological activities such as anticancer, antiplatelet, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, the inhibitory mechanism of surfactin in NO production from macrophages was examined. Surfactin down regulated LPS-induced NO production in RAW264.7 cells and primary macrophages with $IC_{50}$ values of 31.6 and $22.4{\mu}M$, respectively. Immunoblotting analysis showed that surfactin strongly blocked the phosphorylation of IKK and $l{\kappa}B{\alpha}$ and the nuclear translocation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ (p65). Therefore, these data suggest that surfactin may act as a bacterium-derived anti-inflammatory agent with anti-$NF-{\kappa}B$ activity.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.453-458
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• 2006

This study was carried out to investigate the acute toxicity of surfactin C in mice. Surfactin C was administered orally at does of 0, 381, 610, 977, 1562 and 2500 mg/kg. Number of deaths, clinical signs, body weights, feed and water consumptions, and biochemical examinations were investigated for 14 days after single oral administration of surfactin C. $LD_{50}$ value was over 2500mg/kg in mice. In addition, no differences were found between control and treated groups in clinical signs, body weight gains, hematology, serum chemistry, feed and water consumptions. The results indicate that surfactin C did not show any toxic effects at 2500 mg/kg in mice.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.1656-1659
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• 2006

Natural surfactins are a mixture of isoforms that differ slightly in their physiological properties. In previous research, we obtained surfactin A, B, C, and D from the Bacillus subtilis complex BC1212. We found that surfactin C inhibited nitric oxide (NO)-production and suppressed the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine mRNA, which was stimulated by $1{\mu}g/ml$ of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in murine RAW264.7 cells. In order to compare the anti-inflammatory effects of surf actin isoforms, we examined the inhibition of LPS-induced NO production and the pro-inflammatory cytokine expression level. Surfactin C inhibited the LPS-induced NO production in murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells the most. In addition, surf actin C was superior to other surfactin's subtypes regarding inhibiting the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1). Finally, the anti-inflammatory activity of surf actin C is the most potent, compared with surfactin A, B, and D.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.209-215
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• 2016

In this study, the treatment of pistachio nuts by Bacillus subtilis UTBSP1, a promising isolate to degrade aflatoxin B1 (AFB1), caused to reduce the growth of Aspergillus flavus R5 and AFB1 content on pistachio nuts. Fluorescence probes revealed that the cell free supernatant fluid from UTBSP1 affects spore viability considerably. Using high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method, 10 fractions were separated and collected from methanol extract of cell free supernatant fluid. Two fractions showed inhibition zones against A. flavus. Mass spectrometric analysis of the both antifungal fractions revealed a high similarity between these anti-A. flavus compounds and cyclic-lipopeptides of surfactin, and fengycin families. Coproduction of surfactin and fengycin acted in a synergistic manner and consequently caused a strong antifungal activity against A. flavus R5. There was a positive significant correlation between the reduction of A. flavus growth and the reduction of AFB1 contamination on pistachio nut by UTBSP1. The results indicated that fengycin and surfactin-producing B. subtilis UTBSP1 can potentially reduce A. flavus growth and AFB1 content in pistachio nut.