Phenotype and expression profile analysis of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms and planktonic cells in response to licochalcone A.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most important pathogens in humans and animals. The formation of biofilm by S. aureus is considered an important mechanism of antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, finding effective drugs against the biofilm produced by S. aureus has been a high priority. Licochalcone A (LAA), a natural plant product, was reported to have antibacterial activities and showed good activity against all 21 tested strains of S. aureus biofilm and planktonic cells. To detect the possible molecular mechanism of LAA against S. aureus biofilm or planktonic cells, Affymetrix GeneChips were used to determine the global comparative transcription of S. aureus biofilm and planktonic cells triggered by treatment with sub-bactericidal and sub-inhibitory concentrations of LAA, respectively. LAA significantly altered (greater than a 2- or less than -2-fold change) the expression of 693 genes in planktonic cells and 817 genes in biofilm. The levels of genes encoding autolysis-associated proteins, cell wall proteins, pathogenic factors, protein synthesis genes, and enzymes involved in capsule synthesis were significantly altered in LAA-treated S. aureus. Furthermore, some differences observed in the microarray analysis were verified by real-time RT-PCR. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of phenotype and expression profiles of S. aureus biofilm and planktonic cells in response to LAA treatment.