Antibacterial Effect of Epidemic Prevention Sachets Essential Oil against Staphylococcus Aureus

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the most dominant human pathogen, responsible for a variety of chronic and severe infections. As a classic traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula, Epidemic Prevention Sachets have been used clinically for centuries to treat infectious diseases. The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil (EO) from Epidemic Prevention Sachets against the S. aureus has not been investigated. In this study, the EO was tested for its antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. We identified that the EOs has high activity against S. aureus. It showed higher activity than the known antibacterial drug combination of Penicillin streptomycin. The same results were demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy. The impact of the EO on transcription of genes from S. aureus was analyzed. SAOUHSC_01002, SAOUHSC_02444, SAOUHSC_00282 and SAOUHSC_00325, which are involved in cation transport (GO:0006812), were significantly affected by the essential oil as defined in the Gene Ontology Biological Process (GO BP), whereas SAOUHSC_00114 and SAOUHSC_03000, which are involved in the protein tyrosine kinase modulator pathway (K19420), were significantly enriched in the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway. Analysis of clusters of orthologous groups (COG) found that there are differences in multiple metabolic pathways, mainly including secondary biosynthesis metabolism, biofilm related genes and energy metabolism. Our study indicates that the essential oil from Epidemic Prevention Sachets is an effective herbal formula against S. aureus. Overall design: The uploaded data consists of six samples divided into two groups, with three replicates per group.