Antibacterial mechanism of rose essential oil against Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a metabolomic study

Abstract

Abstract Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) is a spoilage microorganism widely distributed vegetables, dairy products, and various environments, and can cause serious foodborne illnesses. Rose essential oil is widely recognized as an exceptional natural antibacterial agent, renowned for its environmentally friendly, safe, and non-toxic properties. In the present study, we conducted a comprehensive analysis to elucidate the inhibition mechanism of rose essential oil against S. maltophilia, encompassing cellular and metabolic levels. The results demonstrated that treatment of cells with rose essential oil resulted in the disruption of cell structure and leakage of cellular contents. Remarkable changes in the morphology of bacterial cells were observed under both scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. At the metabolic level, multiple metabolic pathways were disrupted after rose essential oil treatment, including amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and aminoacyl tRNA biosynthesis. These results guide the inhibition mechanism of rose essential oil against S. maltophilia and provide some theoretical basis for developing effective essential oil preservatives.