부산대학교 도서관

The increase in the resistance of microorganisms to existing antibiotics associated with their ability to survive in biofilms makes the development of new antimicrobial agents a topical question. Of great interest in this field are nanocomposites based on halloysite and silver nanoparticles, since they have a broad antimicrobial activity and can reduce the toxic effects of nanoparticles. In this study, we assessed the effect of the AgHNT nanocomposite at a concentration of 0.5 mg/ml on the pathogenicity factors of Serratia marcescens. The antibiofilm activity of AgHNT was assessed by resazurin assay, and visualized using light and AFM microscopy. AgHNT were found to significantly inhibit biofilm formation in S. marcescens. Although the silver-containing species did not affect protease activity, they greatly reduced the production of prodigiosin, another quorum-sensing factor, by bacteria. The AgHNT nanocomposite was more efficient in suppressing S. marcescens biofilms than the antibiotic streptomycin.