Investigating the effect of curcumin on bacillus subtilis proteome
Student name: Ms Sneha Sinha
Guide: Dr Deepti Gupta
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: Proteomics Lab, IIT Bombay
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Dr Sanjeeva Srivastava
Abstract: The prevalence of multi drug resistant pathogens rising at an alarming rate is making the task of combating
infectious diseases ever difficult and is a serious threat to mankind. This has led to the search of new antibiotics
targeting novel sites within the bacteria and a great emphasis has been given to develop antimicrobials from
natural products curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound which is also a dietary component extracted from
Curcuma longa (turmeric). It has the potential to target and inhibit FtsZ assembly and inhibit cell proliferation.
The aim of the study was to investigate, on global proteome level, the effect of curcumin exposure on B. subtilis
proteome after one life cycle, i.e. 20 min. Comparative proteome analysis of curcumin treated and control B.
subtilis was performed using 2D-DIGE and MALDI- TOF/TOF. The analysis of data revealed 34 differentially
expressed proteins (p- value ≤ 0.05). In silico analysis using bioinformatic tools such as DAVID, PANTHER and
string database has suggested the involvement of these proteins in glycolysis, TCA cycle, protein biosynthesis,
and RNA degradation pathways. Further propidium iodide staining and metabolic activity assay using resazurin
has also supported the proteomic data.
Key words: Curcumin, B. subtilis, proteome, DIGE, resazurin
