Advanced antimicrobial design
Tackling Piscirickettsia salmonis in salmon farming through molecular screening and iterative microbiological validation
The Challenge
Piscirickettsia salmonis is a facultative intracellular pathogen associated with severe systemic disease in salmonids. Its persistence, intracellular adaptation, and growth under controlled conditions require antimicrobial strategies that do more than inhibit bacterial expansion: they must distinguish bacteriostatic and bactericidal activity through quantifiable parameters.
The working hypothesis
Faced with a pathogen of this complexity, the scientific question is whether natural-origin formulations can produce a measurable and reproducible antimicrobial signal. The difficulty lies in finding that signal among thousands of chemical possibilities, separating real activity from experimental noise, and turning natural potential into a quantifiable formulation.
Our Solution
Our technology turns antimicrobial development into an experimentally directed process: it integrates molecular prioritization, candidate formulation selection, and microbiological readouts to focus validation on profiles with the highest likelihood of efficacy. The bacteriological growth assays were executed and validated by Universidad Austral de Chile, providing an independent experimental basis to quantify MIC, MBC, and concentration-dependent response. Instead of advancing by trial and error, the system converts screening into a sequence of measurable decisions.
Turning Point
The critical step was measuring, round after round, how each formulation affected planktonic growth of the LF89 PS011 reference isolate of P. salmonis.
Learning and Validation Process
Round 1: Identifying bactericidal action
- The first formulation line separated partial-inhibition profiles from candidates with reproducible bactericidal activity.
- Formulation A reached an MIC of 62.5 µg/mL and an MBC of 125 µg/mL, establishing an initial bactericidal potency reference.
- Formulation B reduced the MIC to 31.25 µg/mL while maintaining an MBC of 125 µg/mL, suggesting higher inhibitory efficiency without losing bactericidal capacity.
Round 2: Optimization and molecular synergy
- The second stage introduced new formulations to explore optimization effects and inhibitory potency.
- Formulation C confirmed bactericidal activity with an MIC of 62.5 µg/mL and an MBC of 125 µg/mL, validating the consistency of the bactericidal threshold.
- Formulation D showed a low-concentration bacteriostatic profile, with an MIC of 10.4 µg/mL.
- Formulation E reached an MIC of 8.03 µg/mL, the strongest inhibitory result in the series against bacterial growth.
Minimum inhibitory concentration by formulation
Formulations with bactericidal action
Measurable Impact
- Identification of formulations with bactericidal activity defined by an MBC of 125 µg/mL.
- Reduction of the inhibitory concentration to 8.03 µg/mL in the best-performing formulation.
- Construction of a decision matrix that separates bactericidal candidates and low-MIC bacteriostatic formulations with optimization potential.
The Future of Natural Formulation Discovery
This project demonstrates a new way to develop natural formulations with scientific rigor and industrial speed. By integrating molecular discovery with quantitative microbiology, each round stops being an isolated test and becomes actionable evidence: inhibition, lethality, and potency data that guide the next formulation. The result is a sharper pipeline, with lower experimental uncertainty and greater capacity to turn natural candidates into real antimicrobial solutions.
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