Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments

Porto-Figueira, Priscilla; Câmara, José S.; Vigário, Ana M.; Pereira, Jorge A. M.

doi:10.3390/app13010305

Open AccessArticle

Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments

by

Priscilla Porto-Figueira

¹,

José S. Câmara

^1,2

,

Ana M. Vigário

^3,4,* and

Jorge A. M. Pereira

^1,*

¹

CQM—Madeira Chemical Center, Penteada University Campus, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal

²

Faculty of Exact Sciences and Engineering, Penteada University Campus, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal

³

Faculty of Life Sciences, Penteada University Campus, University of Madeira, 9020-105 Funchal, Portugal

⁴

Institute of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon, 1649-028 Lisbon, Portugal

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 305; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010305

Submission received: 9 November 2022 / Revised: 19 December 2022 / Accepted: 20 December 2022 / Published: 27 December 2022

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Antibacterial Activity of Plant Extracts)

Download

Browse Figures

Versions Notes

Abstract

It is known that many bacteria are susceptible to low pH, but it is less clear how the acid nature influences this susceptibility. The objective of this work was to evaluate the susceptibility of selected bacteria to different low pH conditions and to understand if their tolerance is affected by the type of acid (organic vs inorganic) in the media acidification. Strains of different species of human pathogenic bacteria were cultivated at different acidic conditions, using organic or inorganic acids. Overall, we verified that tolerance to acidic conditions is dependent on the type of acid used to acidify the growing medium, organic or inorganic. The strains analysed, although having different tolerance to low pH, were shown to be more susceptible to organic than inorganic acids. This result shows that beyond the pH of the media, the nature of the acid affects bacterial growth. Such a result has consequences in the evaluation of the efficiency of an antibacterial extract, which should take into consideration the differential susceptibility of bacteria to low pHs obtained using organic or inorganic acids.

Keywords: pH tolerance; acidic stress; organic/inorganic acids

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Porto-Figueira, P.; Câmara, J.S.; Vigário, A.M.; Pereira, J.A.M. Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments. Appl. Sci. 2023, 13, 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010305

AMA Style

Porto-Figueira P, Câmara JS, Vigário AM, Pereira JAM. Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments. Applied Sciences. 2023; 13(1):305. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010305

Chicago/Turabian Style

Porto-Figueira, Priscilla, José S. Câmara, Ana M. Vigário, and Jorge A. M. Pereira. 2023. "Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments" Applied Sciences 13, no. 1: 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010305

APA Style

Porto-Figueira, P., Câmara, J. S., Vigário, A. M., & Pereira, J. A. M. (2023). Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments. Applied Sciences, 13(1), 305. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13010305

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Understanding the Tolerance of Different Strains of Human Pathogenic Bacteria to Acidic Environments

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI