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WASHINGTON, March 31 (Xinhua) – US scientists have discovered an unexploited antibiotic candidate in the protective slime that covers young fish.
The study presented Sunday at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society showed that the slimy substance could protect fish from bacteria, fungi and viruses present in their environment, thus capturing the microbes before that they can not cause infections.
They have identified bacteria in mucus with promising antibiotic activity against known pathogens, or even dangerous multidrug-resistant organisms, offering a potential option as current antibiotics lose effectiveness.
Scientists examined juvenile deep-sea and surface fish off the southern coast of California, as they had a less developed immune system and more mucus on the outside of their scales that may contain a greater concentration of fish. active bacteria than adult fish.
They isolated and screened 47 different strains of bacteria from the mud. Five bacterial extracts strongly inhibited MRSA, a bacterium resistant to most antibiotics, and three inhibited a pathogenic fungus for humans.
The study on fish mucus could also help reduce the use of antibiotics in aquaculture by leading to better antibiotics specifically targeted on microbes hooked to certain types of fish, according to l & # 39; study.
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