Extreme Archaea May be an Untapped Source of Antibacterial Drugs

It turns out that Archaea may actually be a rich and untapped source of antibacterial drugs. Scientists have taken a closer look at this family of single-celled organisms and have found that they may just hold unknown applications.

Archaea is a strange form of bacteria. Now, though, DNA studies have shown that this family of bacteria which usually lives in extreme environments may have some qualities that make it useful for humans.

The researchers were actually investigating a gene that produces a type of enzyme found in tears, saliva, milk and mucus called a lysozyme. This particular lysozyme possesses antibacterial action, which jumped from bacteria to all major branches of life.

"We found that this Archaea lysozyme kills certain species of firmicutes bacteria, a large group of bacteria that contains the classic drug resistant bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus anthracis, which causes anthrax, and the gut infection Clostridium difficile," said Seth Bordenstein, one of the researchers, in a news release.

The gene largely responsible is called a GH25-muramidase. This is a member of a family of enzymes that are common in bacteria, which use them to remodel their cell walls.

"What is really cool about these results for me comes from an ecological perspective," said Anna-Louise Reysenbach, one of the researchers. "These Archaea live in close proximity, in biofilms to extremophile bacteria and need to compete for resources. I have often wondered, 'How do Archaea do it?' Through this paper, we show that the smart archaeal 'bugs' do so by stealing genes from their bacterial 'mates' and competitors. This points to Archaea being good, as yet relatively untapped targets for exploring new antibacterial drugs."

The findings reveal a bit more about Archaea and potential applications for the future.

The findings are published in the journal eLife.