BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Bacteriol.
Sec. One Health in Bacteriology
This article is part of the Research TopicInterdisciplinary Approaches to Antimicrobial Resistance: A One Health PerspectiveView all articles
Potential Activity of Pleurotus nebrodensis Mushroom Extract against Biofilm of Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Provisionally accepted
Maria Letizia Gargano1Ilenia Cicero2
FORTUNATO CIRLINCIONE1*
Anna Giammanco3Virginia Talarico3
Ignazio Arrigo3
Teresa Maria Assunta Fasciana3- 1Department of Soil, Plant and Food Science (Di.S.S.P.A.), Universita degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy
- 2Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences, (SAAF), Universita degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
- 3Department of Health Promotion, Mother and Child Care, Internal Medicine and Medical Specialties "G. D'Alessandro", Universita degli Studi di Palermo, Palermo, Italy
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Mushroom extracts are a promising resource for treating bacteria infections associated with biofilms, offering a dual effect: inhibiting biofilm formation and facilitating infection healing. In this paper, after collecting in the wild basidiomes of P. nebrodensis, a rare and endangered species, we proceeded with the isolation of mycelium in pure culture. Preparation of the culture bags was entrusted to a leading fungiculture company. Cultivation took place in a purpose-built tunnel inside a farm, and after harvesting, a certain amount of mushrooms was dried and reduced to powder to proceed with the evaluation of antimicrobial activity against the multidrug-resistant bacterial strains Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. P. nebrodensis extract showed reduction of biofilm formation by up to 71% for S. aureus and by 18% for P. aeruginosa compared to the untreated control. The results suggest that while the P. nebrodensis cold water extract does not exert direct antibacterial activity, it may interfere with biofilm formation, particularly in S. aureus, highlighting its potential as an anti-virulence agent. Besides, in both P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, treatment with the P. nebrodensis extract resulted in a reduction in biofilm formation compared to the untreated control. The potential of P. nebrodensis extracts in inhibiting biofilm formation processes by bacteria could lead to the discovery of new chemicals for use in clinical settings.
Keywords: Pleurotus nebrodensis, Basidiomycota, Biofilm, Gram-Positive Bacteria, Gram-Negative Bacteria, Medicinal mushrooms, antibiotic resistance
Received: 02 Sep 2025; Accepted: 23 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gargano, Cicero, CIRLINCIONE, Giammanco, Talarico, Arrigo and Fasciana. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: FORTUNATO CIRLINCIONE, fortunato.cirlincione@uniba.it
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