Antibiotic derived from soil could address drug resistance

In a paper published in Cell, researchers described a nucleoside analog antibiotic derived from soil microbes that inhibits bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP). The team said the compound, pseudouridimycin, showed broad effectiveness against a range of drug-resistant, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and could become a new tool to combat antibiotic resistance. The team included researchers from Rutgers University and Naicons s.r.l. (Saronno, Italy).

The authors said both IV and subcutaneous administrations of the antibiotic cleared Streptococcus pyogenes infection in mice, while in vitro, the compound showed broad antibacterial activity against various single- and multi-drug-resistant strains of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria...