Nd methods. The reciprocal of the highest dilution of aInhibition Effect of Licochalcone A on S.suisTable 1. Antimicrobial activity of licochalcone A against Streptococcus suis.Descriptiona Serotype 2, MRP EF SLY 89K+ + + +StrainOriginb Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Sichuan, China DP, 2005 Jiangsu, China HP, 1998 Jiangsu, China HP, 1998 Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Jiangsu, China HP, 2006 China DP, 1980 China DP, 1980 China DP, 1980 Jiangsu, China DP Netherlands DP Netherlands DP Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Jilin, China HPLMIC (mg/ml) 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 8 8 8 8S.suis 05ZYH33 S.suis 5 S.suis 98012 S.suis 98013 S.suis 2005001 S.suis 2005002 S.suis sun S.suis 606 S.suis 1940 S.suis 1941 S.suis NJ S.suis S735 S.suis 4005 S.suis F8-2 S.suis B11 S.suis M20-1 S.suis 68-1 S.suis 5Ba 478-01-3 custom synthesis bSerotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP EF SLY 89K+ + +Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype89K, 89 K pathogenicity islands (PAI). HP, human patients; DP, diseased piglets; HPL, healthy piglets. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067728.tgiven cell-free supernatant that exhibited at least 50 of RBC lysis was taken as the titre, in hemolytic units (HU), of the suilysin in that sample. As shown in Figure 3A, hemolytic activity of suilysin was significantly decreased when S.suis strain was cultured in the presence of licochalcone A (1.5 mg/ml). At the same time, we measured the 1315463 bacteria density to investigate if the decrease of suilysin release was due to simply fewer cells present in samples treated with licochalcone A. As shown in Figure 3B, there were nearly same bacteria cells treated with 1.5 mg/ml licochalcone A compared with that of untreated group. These results indicated that licochalcone A could inhibit the secretion of suilysin in S.suis in the presence of 1.5 mg/ml licochalcone A. The mechanism of suilysin regulation is not well clear, and environmental changes such as pH shift, nutrient exhaustion, cell confluence, or other stressful factors may play a role. A transposon mutagenesis study had demonstrated that manN, putative mannose-specific phosphotransferase system component IID encoded by 05SSU1780, repressed the MedChemExpress tert-Butylhydroquinone expression of suilysin [18]. In this study, after treated by licochalcone A, we also found that the expression of manN was upregulated in correlation with the down-regulated expression of suilysin in S.suis strain 05ZYH33 (Table 2). These results indicated that manN might be a gene targeted by licochalcone A, and the effect mechanism of licochalcone A on suilysin expression by S.suis was similar to that of licochalcone A on alpha-toxin expression by Methicillinsensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), namely targeting the regulation genes [19,20].Gene expression profile of Streptococcus suis treated by subinhibitory concentration of licochalcone AThe effect of licochalcone A on growth and properties of S.suis indicated its therapeutic potential for S.suis infection. To furtherexplore the molecular mechanism of the effect, we compared the gene expression profile of S.suis serotype 2 strain 05ZYH33 that was cultured in the presence of subinhibitory.Nd methods. The reciprocal of the highest dilution of aInhibition Effect of Licochalcone A on S.suisTable 1. Antimicrobial activity of licochalcone A against Streptococcus suis.Descriptiona Serotype 2, MRP EF SLY 89K+ + + +StrainOriginb Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Sichuan, China DP, 2005 Jiangsu, China HP, 1998 Jiangsu, China HP, 1998 Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Sichuan, China HP, 2005 Jiangsu, China HP, 2006 China DP, 1980 China DP, 1980 China DP, 1980 Jiangsu, China DP Netherlands DP Netherlands DP Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Hebei, China HPL Jilin, China HPLMIC (mg/ml) 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 8 8 8 8S.suis 05ZYH33 S.suis 5 S.suis 98012 S.suis 98013 S.suis 2005001 S.suis 2005002 S.suis sun S.suis 606 S.suis 1940 S.suis 1941 S.suis NJ S.suis S735 S.suis 4005 S.suis F8-2 S.suis B11 S.suis M20-1 S.suis 68-1 S.suis 5Ba bSerotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K+ Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP EF SLY 89K+ + +Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 2, MRP+EF+SLY+89K2 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype 7 Serotype89K, 89 K pathogenicity islands (PAI). HP, human patients; DP, diseased piglets; HPL, healthy piglets. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067728.tgiven cell-free supernatant that exhibited at least 50 of RBC lysis was taken as the titre, in hemolytic units (HU), of the suilysin in that sample. As shown in Figure 3A, hemolytic activity of suilysin was significantly decreased when S.suis strain was cultured in the presence of licochalcone A (1.5 mg/ml). At the same time, we measured the 1315463 bacteria density to investigate if the decrease of suilysin release was due to simply fewer cells present in samples treated with licochalcone A. As shown in Figure 3B, there were nearly same bacteria cells treated with 1.5 mg/ml licochalcone A compared with that of untreated group. These results indicated that licochalcone A could inhibit the secretion of suilysin in S.suis in the presence of 1.5 mg/ml licochalcone A. The mechanism of suilysin regulation is not well clear, and environmental changes such as pH shift, nutrient exhaustion, cell confluence, or other stressful factors may play a role. A transposon mutagenesis study had demonstrated that manN, putative mannose-specific phosphotransferase system component IID encoded by 05SSU1780, repressed the expression of suilysin [18]. In this study, after treated by licochalcone A, we also found that the expression of manN was upregulated in correlation with the down-regulated expression of suilysin in S.suis strain 05ZYH33 (Table 2). These results indicated that manN might be a gene targeted by licochalcone A, and the effect mechanism of licochalcone A on suilysin expression by S.suis was similar to that of licochalcone A on alpha-toxin expression by Methicillinsensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), namely targeting the regulation genes [19,20].Gene expression profile of Streptococcus suis treated by subinhibitory concentration of licochalcone AThe effect of licochalcone A on growth and properties of S.suis indicated its therapeutic potential for S.suis infection. To furtherexplore the molecular mechanism of the effect, we compared the gene expression profile of S.suis serotype 2 strain 05ZYH33 that was cultured in the presence of subinhibitory.