Dangerous cohabitation
Scientists discover a combination of substances that is active against hospital bug
| by Christine Vogler
A team of researchers around Pierre Stallforth from the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology in Jena have discovered two substances produced by bacteria that are active against the dreaded multiresistant hospital bug MRSA. The two substances Jessenipeptin and Mupirocin make it possible for the bacteria of the genus Pseudomonas to live in close proximity to their predators, the ameba Dictyostelium discoideum - leading the scientists to further investigations. The results of these studies are now published in the renowned scientific journal PNAS.