Sreemoyee Chatterjee
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Written By: Sreemoyee Chatterjee | Updated : September 10, 2018 6:27 PM IST
Predator bacteria can now help in fighting antibiotic resistance © Shutterstock
Imagine a bunch of germ-eating microbes fighting back against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and sorting out the concern of doctors related to antibiotic resistance. These are exactly what researchers are now coming up with to tackle the alarming incidence of antibiotic resistance. The researchers from the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have developed germ-eating microbes that can attack all germs, starting from bacterial lung infections to plague along with severe germs that have become resistant to antibiotics.
The study focused on Bdellovibrio, a bacterium that swims around with the help of a corkscrew tail, attacking common germs that are six times its size, highlighted a recent IANS report. According to the same report, this bacterium seeps into larger bacteria, destroying them from inside and out. "It might seem strange to think of microbe-eating microbes, but "actually they're found in almost every ecosystem on Earth", reportedly said Brad Ringeisen, deputy director of the Biological Technologies Office at the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Explaining the procedure by which Bdellovibrio eats up other bacteria, Liz Sockett, a professor at the Nottingham University reportedly said: "First, it uses its flagellum, which is stiff and rotates, to swim up to prey. Then it latches on, using tiny appendages which are little grappling hooks on the surface. It's a bit like a climber attaching to a rock."
"Bdellovibrio ended up preying upon 145 of the 168 human pathogens we tested, which is pretty remarkable," added Ringeisen, according to the media report. The researchers let few surviving bacteria to multiply and made Bdellovibrio attack them again. This was done around 50 times by the team over a long period to ensure that this particular bacterium is able to destroy those germ causing bacteria which have become resistant to antibiotics.
The researchers have found that although the predators do not completely destroy the disease-causing bacteria as antibiotics might do, very high dosage of Bdellovibrio can curb bacterial populations to a large extent.
