Researchers at Warwick University in the UK and Monash University in Australia have just identified a powerful new antibiotic, pre-methylenomycin C lactone, from a type of bacteria that scientists have been studying for decades:
“Remarkably, the bacterium that makes methylenomycin A and pre-methylenomycin C lactone — Streptomyces coelicolor — is a model antibiotic-producing species that’s been studied extensively since the 1950s,” says chemist Lona Alkhalaf, from the University of Warwick.
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In lab tests, pre-methylenomycin C lactone was shown to be 100 times more effective than methylenomycin A against Gram-positive bacteria, the kinds that are getting smarter at outwitting our current antibiotics.
The researchers behind the discovery decided to take a closer look at methylenomycin A by modifying the genes used in the assembly line of the antibiotic, to see what each one did. The resulting compounds, described as biosynthetic intermediates, were then tested for antibiotic activity.
“Methylenomycin A was originally discovered 50 years ago, and while it has been synthesized several times, no one appears to have tested the synthetic intermediates for antimicrobial activity,” says chemist Greg Challis, from the University of Warwick.
One wonders how many other materials and inventions are floating around just waiting for someone to give them a novel application.
Unrelated, but the bacterial/antibiotic arms race is a fascinating little war.