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As antibiotics decrease their effectiveness against
multidrug-resistant pathogens, researchers are looking for potential
replacements in unlikely places. Now, a team has identified bacteria
with promising antibiotic activity against known pathogens – even
dangerous organisms, such as the microbe responsible for MRSA infections –
in the protective mucus that covers young fish.
The researchers will present their findings today at the American
Chemical Society (ACS) – Spring National Meeting and Expo 2019.
ACS, the world's largest scientific society, organizes the meeting here
until Thursday. It offers nearly 13,000 presentations on a wide range
range of scientific topics.
"For us, any microbe in the marine environment that could provide a
new compound deserves to be explored, "says Sandra Loesgen, Ph.D.
principal investigator of the group.
According to Loesgen, who is at Oregon State University, while he was innovative
Chemical reagents have been found in the human microbiome, the marine environment.
equivalent remains relatively unstudied. A potential gold mine of
microbes is the mucus that covers the surface of the fish. This viscous
substance protects fish against bacteria, fungi and viruses in their
environment, trapping microbes before they can cause infections. the
the mud is also rich in polysaccharides and peptides known to have
antibacterial activity.
"The fish mucus is really interesting because the fish environment
living in is complex, "says Molly Austin, an undergraduate chemistry student
student in the laboratory of Loesgen, who conducted some of the studies.
"They are constantly in touch with their environment with many
pathogenic viruses. "According to Austin, it would be interesting to
understand if something in the mucus, which protects the fish, could
actually help protect humans.
Collaborator Erin (Misty) Paig-Tran, Ph.D., who is in California
Fullerton State University provided mucus taken from a child
Deep-sea and surface fish caught in Southern California
side. The team looked at young fish because they have a less developed fish
immune system and more mucus on the outside of their scales that might
contain a higher concentration of active bacteria than adult fish.
Loesgen, Austin and graduate student Paige Mandelare isolated and
screened 47 different strains of bacteria from the mud. Five bacteria
strongly inhibited extracts resistant to methicillin S. aureus (MRSA) and three inhibited Candida albicans,
a pathogenic fungus for humans. A mucus bacterium from one
Pacific Pink Perch showed strong activity against MRSA and
against a cell line of carcinoma of the colon. Austin is now focusing his work on
the Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacterium derived from
this fish, to study the many potentially interesting natural phenazine
products and antibiotics that this bacterium makes.
Team members are interested in new sources of antibiotics
to help humans, they are also looking for other ways to apply this
knowledge. For example, the study of fish mucus could also help reduce
the use of antibiotics in fish farming leading to better antibiotics
specifically targeted at microbes hooked to certain types of fish.
But first, researchers want to understand more fundamental
questions. For example, "We do not even know what a healthy microbiome is.
is, says Loesgen. She explains that it is difficult to know if the bacterium
they studied in the fish mud were typical of their microbiomes and are
protect their hosts, or if these bacteria had just attacked a
ride on these individual fish. Learn more about healthy fish
microbiomes and how environmental factors in the Pacific can affect them
could help inform conservation efforts, say the researchers.
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