A research team based in Trinity have discovered plant peptides that have antimicrobial effects on bacteria, that can be used to fight against the increase in antibiotic resistance in the medical world.
The team, led by Head of Microbiology at Trinity, Prof Ursula Bond, discovered the antibiotic properties of two small peptides, which are molecules consisting of two or more amino acids (for more information see here: https://www.peptidesciences.com/), from broad beans and cowpea that proved highly effective against bacteria.
Antibiotic resistance – when an antibiotic no longer has its ability to effectively control or kill the growth of bacteria – is occurring at an increasing rate, due at least in part to the over-prescription of such antibiotics, including for the kinds of conditions, including viruses like the common cold or the flu, which antibiotics cannot help. As a result, thousands of people are dying every year from infections that were previously cured easily.
The team’s research, funded by a grant from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, found that the peptides used have antimicrobial effects on bacteria implicated in food spoilage and food poisoning. These peptides are similar to a human peptide commonly used in the brewing industry to protect against beer-spoiling bacteria.
In a press release, Bond stated that there are “two major advantages” to this research, including the fact that “no resistance mechanisms have emerged yet,” and the peptides can be “inexpensively synthesised”. In fact, companies have risen to the task of doing just that, with options providing enhancedpeptides to allow labs to focus on the research.
The research confirms that when these two plant-based peptides are used together, alongside a similarly structured human peptide, their protective effects against disease and bacteria are significantly strengthened.
Bond added that the research team’s aim was “to identify peptides that provide protection against food-spoiling bacteria,” but that “these peptides may also be useful as antibiotics against bacteria”, especially ones that can cause “serious human diseases”. Bond explained that the research team turned to “natural peptides found in many plants and plant seeds” as “plants have evolved these systems to protect themselves against the billions of bacteria and fungi”.
Many of the most effective antibiotics are derived from proteins produced by plants, but there is a growing need to discover new candidates, as antibiotic resistance is increasing in bacterial species, which has and will have major health and economic implications in society.
