Your data on MRCVSonline
The nature of the services provided by Vision Media means that we might obtain certain information about you.
Please read our Data Protection and Privacy Policy for details.

In addition, (with your consent) some parts of our website may store a 'cookie' in your browser for the purposes of
functionality or performance monitoring.
Click here to manage your settings.
EmailIphone Application    Posted: 20th February 2017
If you would like to forward this story on to a friend, simply fill in the form below and click send.
Your friend's email:
Your email:
Your name:
 
 
Send Cancel

Researchers discover new antibiotic in African ant
petri dish
The new species is a member of the Streptomycin bacteria family.
Tests show antibiotic is highly-effective against MRSA

Researchers have discovered a new species of antibiotic, produced by the bacteria of an African ant, that is highly effective against MRSA.

The finding, published in the journal Chemical Science, was made by scientists at the University of East Anglia and the John Innes Centre.

The new species is a member of the Streptomycin bacteria family and was discovered on the African fungus-growing plant-ant, Tertraponera penzigi.

Tests show that the antibiotic is potent against antibiotic-resistant 'superbugs' such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE).

Professor Wilkinson from the John Innes Centre commented: “Our finding highlights the importance of searching as-yet under-expired environments, which, when combined with recent advances in genome sequencing and editing, enables the discovery of new species making natural product antibiotics which could prove invaluable in the fight against AMR.”

Currently, nearly all of the antibiotics in use originate from a group of bacteria called actinomycetes. This bacteria was isolated from soil between 40 and 80 years ago, in what is known as the ‘golden age’ of antibiotic discovery.

Since then, inappropriate use of these antibiotics has led to widespread antimicrobial resistance where disease-causing bacteria have become resistant to some of these antibiotics.

“We have been exploring the chemical ecology of protective symbioses formed between antibiotic-producing bacteria and fungus-growing insects to better understand how these associations are formed and explore them as a new source of anti-infective drugs,” said Prof Matt Hutchings from the University of East Anglia.

“Kenyan plant-ants live in symbiosis with thorny acacia trees. They live and breed in domatia - which are hollowed out structures which the plant evolved to house them - and grow fungus in them for food. In return, they protect the plants from large herbivores including elephants, which won't eat plants covered in ants.”

The antibiotic has been named ‘streptomyces formicae,’ and the antibiotics formicamycins, after the latin formica, meaning ant.

Become a member or log in to add this story to your CPD history

RCVS Knowledge appoints Veterinary Evidence editor-in-chief

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has welcomed Professor Peter Cockcroft as editor-in-chief for Veterinary Evidence.

A world-renowned expert in evidence-based veterinary medicine, Prof Cockcroft will lead the strategic development and editorial quality of the open-access journal. He was previously in the role from 2017-2020.

Katie Mantell, CEO of RCVS Knowledge, said: "We are excited about the extensive knowledge of evidence-based veterinary medicine and clinical veterinary research that Peter brings, and we look forward to working with him over this next phase of the journal's development." 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
CVS Group hit by cyber attack

CVS Group, which owns more than 450 veterinary practices in the UK, has been hit by a cyber attack.

In a statement, the group said the incident involved unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems. As soon as the attack was discovered, the group took its IT systems temporarily offline, causing 'considerable operational disruption'.

It has warned that the security steps taken and ongoing plans to move its operational systems and IT infrastructure to the Cloud are likely to have an ongoing impact over a number of weeks.

Due to the risk that personal information was accessed, CVS has informed the Information Commissioner's Office. The company is working with third party consultants to investigate the incident.