THE INHIBITORY EFFECT OF HONOKIOL ON AEROLYSIN SECRETION BY AEROMONAS HYDROPHILA

To investigate the effects of honokiol on the pathogenicity of Aeromonas hydrophila and identify novel drugs against infections caused by A. hydrophila, hemolytic assay, Western-Blotting, real-time PCR and animal assay were performed. The results showed that honokiol could inhibit the hemolytic activity of A. hydrophila by inhibiting the expression of aerolysin in a co-culture model with sub-inhibitory concentrations. The real-time PCR results revealed that honokiol could suppress the transcription of aerolysin encoding gene aerA. Moreover, honokiol treatment could significantly increase the survival rate of the channel catfish infected with A. hydrophila. These results demonstrate that honokiol could reduce the pathogenicity of A. hydrophila by inhibiting the transcription of aerA gene, and that Honokiol is a promising candidate of the novel drug against A. hydrophila infections.