A new class of antibiotics has been discovered in an African ant. The mold it produces contains a strain that is effective against resistant bacteria.
Her name : Tetraponera penzigi. Its sting is as painful as that of a wasp. But this Kenyan ant could well hold the solution against antimicrobial resistance. British researchers have in fact isolated, in the mold it produces, a new group of antibiotics: Streptomyces formicae, named in homage to the ant. It is effective even against the toughest bacterial strains, as the team shows in the review. Chemical Science.
Precious mold
Will the discovery of this antibiotic go down in history, like that of Alexander Fleming? The track arouses in any case enthusiasm. It must be said that in terms of treatments against bacteria, no major breakthrough has been made for more than half a century. Antibiotic resistance is progressing by leaps and bounds. It is therefore a sigh of relief that this study offers.
Unlike most antibiotics, derived from bacteria found in the soil, this one comes from a species of ant apart. “Kenyan ants, which colonize trees, live in symbiosis with thorny acacias,” explains Prof. Matt Hutchings. Sheltered in the leaves, these insects produce molds which feed them.
It was in this food source that researchers found what could become an antibiotic. They analyzed the mold genome with a fine-tooth comb, finally isolating a strain. This has been shown to be very powerful: it is effective against the dreaded methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but also vancomycin-resistant enterococcus (VRE) or a multi-resistant fungal pathogen.
Broaden one’s horizons
In order to confirm these results, the authors repeated the tests on several generations of bacteria, at very low concentrations. It does not appear that resistance is forming.
Beyond the enthusiasm generated by this work, Professor Barrie Wilkinson encourages people to broaden their research horizons. “Our results highlight the importance of carrying out research in hitherto under-explored environments which, by drawing on recent advances in sequencing and genetic editing, allow the discovery of new species naturally producing antibiotics. », He believes.
This is valuable advice, because the health authorities are pushing the medical and scientific community to quickly find alternatives to current antibiotics. And for good reason: if the trend continues, in 2050, antibiotic resistance could kill more than cancer.
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