“Predatory bacteria” may be the new weapon against superbugs
Researchers from the UK are testing the effectiveness of “predatory bacteria”, which eat others of its kind, as the new weapon in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs”.
Scientists all over the world are trying new approaches to battle the growing levels of bacteria that are resistant to drugs.
But a team at Imperial College London and the University of Nottingham in the UK are looking at a type of predatory bacteria called Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. It is a fast-swimming bacterium that works its way inside other bacteria where it devours its hosts’ insides and swells in size.Once it has finished feeding it replicates and bursts out of its now dead host.
The team tried using Bdellovibriobacteriovorus to kill a common cause of food poisoning.
Shigella bacteria make 160 million people ill each year, and more than a million die, largely through contaminated food.
Tests in a laboratory dish showed the predatory bacteria caused the population of superbug Shigella to collapse 4,000-fold. Further tests in fish larvae showed a deadly dose of the superbug led to only 25% surviving for three days.But when the fish larvae were also “infected” with the predator, survival soared to 60%.
Dr. Serge Mostowy, from Imperial College London, said in an interview that the “creative approach” represents an important milestone in the study into the use of a living antibiotic. The approach is also made special by the fact that the hosts are unable to develop resistance against it, he added.
The researchers also noticed the predatory bacterium worked best in conjunction with the fish’s immune system.
Professor Liz Sockett, from the University of Nottingham, said: “It seems that the Shigella pathogens are evading the immune system, but when Bdellovibrio is there it is releasing broken parts of Shigella and that is giving extra signals to the fish that it should be dealt with.”
Bdellovibrio has been shown to kill a range of bacteria including E. coli and Salmonella.
The researchers said there were no signs of side effects and that the fish could tolerate very high levels of Bdellovibrio. The predatory bacteria have been found naturally living in our bodies by other researchers.
However, the researchers believe Bdellovibrio could be more useful in treating infected wounds, rather than those that have spread through the body, as the predatory bacteria can be easily injected into the site.
Far more safety tests are needed before the therapeutic use of Bdellovibrio could be attempted.
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