The Ocean Bug That Could Kill MRSA
Posted on: Thursday, 26 May 2005, 06:00 CDT
A bacterium which kills MRSA and could be developed into a weapon against the superbug has been found hundreds of metres below the sea, scientists have said.
Microbiologists from the Universities of Kent and Newcastle have been investigating samples taken from sediments across the world's sea beds.
Among the discoveries was a new species of the actinomycete bacteria, called verrucosispora maris, which can kill MRSA.
The MRSA superbug can cause fatal infections if it enters the body. It has gained a foothold in hospitals due to an immunity to antibiotics and weakened patients' vulnerability The anti-MRSA bacterium was discovered 300 metres below the Sea of Japan, but such studies are relatively new because of the great cost of deep sea exploration.
Dr Phil Williamson, of the Natural Environment Research Council, said the scientists studied how hundreds of thousands of different microbes and bacteria can live in the same place on the ocean floor - often in conflict with one another.
'They have developed quite sophisticated systems of trying to kill off their rivals, and by looking at the different compounds they produce, the scientists have identified new bacteria which could provide the next generation of antibiotics,' he said
Source: Birmingham Post; Birmingham (UK)
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