Triphala Modulates the Membrane Vesicle Transcriptome of Enterococcus durans VIT3 to Influence Antibiotic Response...

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Molecular Biology
• Herbal Medicine

Background:

• Membrane vesicles (MVs) are key in bacterial communication and host interactions.
• Enterococcus durans is a bacterium relevant to host physiology.
• Triphala is a polyherbal formulation with potential biological activities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how triphala affects the RNA cargo of MVs from Enterococcus durans.
• To compare the effects of triphala, antibiotics, and their sequential combinations on MV RNA.
• To explore the impact of these treatments on bacterial stress response genes.

Main Methods:

• Isolation and characterization of MVs from Enterococcus durans under various stress conditions.
• Transcriptomic profiling of MV RNA cargo using pooled samples.
• Cytotoxicity assays on CaCo2 cells.
• Network analysis (STRING) to identify gene interactions.

Main Results:

• Triphala pretreatment upregulated genes for oxidative stress defense, envelope integrity, and CRISPR-Cas.
• Antibiotic-first treatments suppressed stress-related genes, highlighting treatment order importance.
• Triphala-antibiotic sequence showed coordinated expression in ATP synthase, arginine deiminase, and CRISPR loci.
• STRING analysis revealed functional clustering of upregulated genes.

Conclusions:

• Triphala can modulate the RNA cargo of bacterial MVs, influencing stress response pathways.
• The order of treatment (triphala vs. antibiotics) significantly impacts gene expression.
• Findings support triphala's potential role in synbiotic strategies for microbial stress resilience.