CHEMISTS from Monash University and the University of Warwick in the UK have discovered a promising new antibiotic shown to be active against bacterial pathogens that exhibit antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The newly discovered antibiotic - called pre-methylenomycin C lactone - was said to be 'hiding in plain sight' as an intermediate chemical in the natural process that produces the well-known antibiotic methylenomycin A.
"Methylenomycin A was originally discovered 50 years ago and while it has been synthesised several times, no one appears to have tested the synthetic intermediates for antimicrobial activity," explained co-lead author Professor Greg Challis.
"By deleting biosynthetic genes, we discovered two previously unknown biosynthetic intermediates, both of which are much more potent antibiotics than methylenomycin A itself," he said, adding that this suggests a fresh paradigm for discovering new antibiotics.
When tested for antimicrobial activity, one of the intermediates - pre-methylenomycin C lactone - was shown to be over 100 times more active against diverse Gram-positive bacteria - including Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecium - than the original antibiotic methylenomycin A.
Importantly, the researchers did not detect resistance to pre-methylenomycin C lactone in Enterococcus bacteria under conditions where vancomycin resistance is observed.
Vancomycin is a "last line" treatment for Enterococcus infection, so the finding holds great promise for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus.
Read the paper HERE.
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