Novel Antibiotics from Soil Microbiome

Healthy soil is a rich source of bacteria. Bacteria are fascinating and abundant creatures living in almost every Earth habitat. Although some are harmful and others seem to not influence our lives, many bacteria are very useful. Research suggests that many of these microbes might produce chemicals that could be used as antibiotics. Its extremely difficult to grow these organisms in laboratory equipment, however, scientists were trying to grow them in field conditions. We desperately need new ways to fight bacterial infections in humans. Traditionally, antibiotics have targeted mainly bacterial DNA replication, protein synthesis or peptidoglycan synthesis. Widespread resistance has caused researchers to search for newer targets for combating bacterial infections. With huge microbial diversity and richness, it is not surprising that soil harbors a large diversity of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs). Recent studies recovered not only genetic material orthologous to known ARGs found in contemporary pathogenic bacteria but also novel resistance mechanisms that have potential to supply effective antibiotics.