New, More Effective Nisin Antibiotics Combat Superbugs And Food Diseases

Researchers at University College Cork have used bioengineering to produce a new generation of natural antibiotics that target harmful micro-organisms such as MRSA and the food-borne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes.

Dr Field and colleagues explained how by altering different amino acids in nisin, an antimicrobial protein produced naturally by a bacterium called Lactococcus lactis, they had created a family of variants, each slightly different from the naturally occurring protein. These bioengineered nisin variants possessed greater activities than the parent molecule against a range of important clinical pathogens including MRSA, VRE (Vancomycin resistant Enterococci) and the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes.

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