Abstract

The compounds of natural origin prevail to be of great importance in the identification of novel bioactive molecules and are less pernicious towards the ecosystem. Dinb family proteases of Bacillus species possess antimicrobial properties and are reported to inhibit the growth of many pathogenic bacteria, our study also focused on corroborating these effects. Five-day-old Drosophila melanogaster was exposed to Salmonella enterica for up to 96 hours. Once the disease was induced in flies they were shifted to the treatment vials containing 2 mg–10 mg of purified protease. The application of a 23.4 kDa purified protease improved the health of D. melanogaster when compared to the positive control. The protease treatment on the infected flies showed significant stability in cell survival (69%) as well as restoring normal cell functioning. The results indicated that purified protease extended fly life span, restored their locomotive (96.6%), and reproductive ability (38%–67.5%), and reduced oxidative stress in D. melanogaster. The study verified, the protease to be bactericidal against diarrhea pathogens and the significant recovery of the host immune system. Furthermore, the protein can be used to study host-pathogen immune interactions at the cellular level, followed by its testing against a variety of pathogens to explore its broad-spectrum application.

Key words: Bacillus clausii, Diarrhea, Drosophila, Metalloprotease, Oxidative stress.