Washington: For the first time, a new study has revealed that a common species of seaweed, Laminaria Ochroleuca, is a rich source of bacteria with antimicrobial and anticancer activities — and potential new drug candidates. Almost a century since Fleming discovered penicillin in a stray mold, scientists continue to look to microbes for new antibiotics and other medicines. “About half of the 20,000+ microbe-derived drug candidates currently known come from Actinobacteria,” said senior study author Dr Maria de Fatima Carvalho.
“Now the supply of new species on land — where they form spores and branched networks just like a fungus — is beginning to run out,” added Carvalho. But relatively underexplored marine Actinobacteria may yet prove an even richer source of bioactive microbial molecules. “Several novel drug leads derived from marine Actinobacteria are already known. These include anticancer agent salinosporamide A, currently in clinical trials, and several new antibiotics that are effective against drug-resistant infections like MRSA and tuberculosis,” said
Carvalho. —ANI
