Antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest problems of the 21st century. Few novel antibiotics have been discovered in the past 30 years. The pharmaceutical industry, with the exception of Glaxo-Smithkline, has all but abandoned antibiotic discovery. Soil bacteria have been the source of most antibiotics to date and is a valuable resource for identifying a broad range of microbes with possible antibiotic producing capabilities. This merits investigating the soil microbiome for antibiotic producing bacteria, to help tackle the growing trend in antibiotic resistance. One of the greatest problems of discovering antibiotic producing microbes has been to ensure the antibiotics are novel and not compounds previously discovered. Through previous studies in this research group we have identified a novel antibiotic producing bacteria, which does not produce a known antibiotic. The discovery of a novel antibiotic could enable the treatment of the current arsenal of antibiotic resistant pathogens. We already know that this novel antibiotic can kill laboratory enterococci bacteria. Ireland has the largest rates of a hospital acquired infection called vancomycin resistant enterococcus. This project aims to understand how the novel antibiotic will kill either all of these types of bacteria or target specific types. Using this information we can then identify how the novel antibiotic can be developed for use against these infection causing bacteria.
