Bacteria are among the most adaptable organisms to changing external conditions. If we talk about pathogenic bacteria, then their extremely rapid variability, as is commonly believed, is one of the factors in the development of antibiotic resistance. But, according to the publication "EurekAlert!", It turns out that bacteria acquired the ability to create resistant strains long before the invention of antibiotics.
Two groups of scientists from McMaster University and the University of Akron during excavations in Lechuguill Cave in the United States, at a depth of about 300 meters, discovered a new species of bacteria called Paenibacillus, which had been isolated from the external environment for 4 million years. This type of microorganism, fortunately, is not pathogenic for humans, but during the experiments an amazing property of the new species was revealed: Paenibacillus are resistant to 18 existing strong antibiotics, among which there are so-called "reserve antibiotics", which are used extremely rarely and in in cases where traditional means no longer give an effect.
In the course of studying a new species, scientists were able to identify 5 main mechanisms of protection of bacteria against antibiotics, which are used by most modern microorganisms to develop resistance. In modern microorganisms, these mechanisms are extremely difficult to detect due to the complex structure of the cell, in comparison with the ancient bacteria. The discovery is of extremely great clinical value, as it gives scientists the opportunity in the future to develop antibiotics against which such mechanisms will not work.
VLADIMIR KUZNETSOV
