Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains a major global health crisis, worsened by a shortage of new antibiotics and weak commercial incentives for development. Researchers studying Streptomyces coelicolor A3, a well-known antibiotic-producing bacterium, have discovered a new and highly potent compound, pre-methylenomycin C lactone, an intermediate in the biosynthesis of methylenomycin A. Reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, this compound is over 100 times more effective against Gram-positive bacteria—including Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecium (VRE)—than methylenomycin A.
The study revealed that S. coelicolor may have originally evolved to produce this stronger antibiotic, which later weakened into methylenomycin A for other biological purposes. Notably, no resistance to pre-methylenomycin C lactone was detected in Enterococcus under conditions that typically induce vancomycin resistance, highlighting its promise against drug-resistant infections.
With a scalable synthesis method already developed, the next stage will involve pre-clinical testing. The researchers suggest this discovery marks a new approach to antibiotic discovery—exploring biosynthetic intermediates as untapped sources of potent, resistance-resilient drugs.
Credit: GEN