An in silico antifouling potential of fengycin, a cyclic lipopeptide produced by marine bacteria

Marine bacteria are recognized as predominant renewable resources of bioactive compounds as they possess unique biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) responsible for the production of bioactive molecules. The number and the type of BGCs can vary among different bacterial species. Therefore, in this in silico study, the BGCs of different marine bacterial species were analysed using the online gene mining platform AntiSMASH. The result revealed that every bacterial species can produce a specific group of compounds. However, the production of the lipopeptide fengycin was common among the bacterial species and was found in 86.66% of the marine bacterial genomes belonging to the species Pseudovibrio , Pseudomonas and Bacillus . The literature survey carried out thereafter revealed that fengycin is a promising bioactive agent that possesses antimicrobial properties. Consequently, the in silico antimicrobial, antibiofilm and antifouling properties of the compound fengycin were analysed using the docking software PyRx (Python Prescription). In silico analysis predicted fengycin could effectively interact with antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and antifouling molecular targets. These results are preliminary and predictive and do not indicate actual biological activity. Therefore, it is likely that the potential antifouling mechanism of fengycin may represent a chemical defence mechanism of marine bacteria, but such inference should not be based solely on docking results. Consequently, fengycin may serve as a potential antifouling agent, and its effect on biofilms and biofouling organisms should be investigated further using in vitro and in vivo experimental validations.