Nana Long,1,2 Min Qiu,2 Youwei Zuo,1 Hongping Deng1 

1Center for Biodiversity Conservation and Utilization, School of Life Sciences, Southwest University, Beibei, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Laboratory Medicine, Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Hongping Deng, Email denghp@swu.edu.cn

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity and mechanism of linalool against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Methods: The determination of the antibacterial activity of linalool against clinically isolated MRSA strains was based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and growth curve analysis. Finally, the inhibition mechanism of linalool was elucidated through metabolomic analysis and molecular docking.
Results: Among the isolated strains, penicillin resistance was found to be the highest, while resistance to daptomycin/quinupristin-dalfopristin, linezolid, vancomycin, tetracycline, telithromycin, and levofloxacin was not observed. The MIC range of linalool was 211.24– 1.65 μg/mL, with MIC50 and MIC90 values of 13.2 μg/mL and 105.62 μg/mL, respectively. Metabolomic analysis revealed that linalool interferes with various substance metabolisms and energy metabolism in MRSA, with the glutathione pathway potentially being a key pathway affected by linalool. Molecular docking revealed that linalool exhibited good binding potential to the target glutathione.
Conclusion: This study suggests that linalool could be developed as a drug or preservative to inhibit MRSA growth.

Keywords: MRSA, linalool, antimicrobial resistance, metabolome, glutathione