Investigation of the antimicrobial activity of the components of androctonus crassicauda scorpion venom

Androctonus crassicauda is a scorpion species distributed in the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey and is considered important for public health. Scorpion venoms are known to contain a complex mixture of bioactive molecules. In this study, the antimicrobial activity of crude venom and its components from Androctonus crassicauda was investigated. Crude venom was obtained from scorpions, and its chromatographic profile was determined using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). Antibacterial activity was tested against Bacillus subtilis ATCC 19659, Bacillus spizizenii ATCC 6633, and Klebsiella pneumoniae NCTC 9633. The activities of HPLC fractions were specifically tested against K. pneumoniae NCTC 9633. Twenty main fractions were collected every three minutes via liquid chromatography, and 5 µL of each was applied to petri dishes using the pour plate method. Antimicrobial effects were observed in fractions collected between 6–9, 9–12, 18–21, 30–33, and 33–36 minutes, showing inhibition zones of 0,7 cm, 0,4 cm, 1,2 cm, 1,8 cm, and 0,6 cm, respectively. Further purification of the active fractions revealed a 0,5 cm inhibition zone at a retention time of 8.4 minutes. The purified fraction and the 6–9-minute fraction were analyzed using Glycine and Tricine SDS-PAGE gels; however, no bands were observed due to the very low molecular weight of the component. In this study, a novel antibacterial component was identified from the venom of A. crassicauda. Klebsiella pneumoniae is an pathogen that particularly causes hospital-acquired infections. The identified peptide component is considered to have potential as a novel therapeutic approach in antibiotic design.