Kenyan ants could hold the power over drug resistance

Kenyan ants may carry a crucial key to treating disease-causing bacteria that are immune to existing drugs, also known as superbugs.

These bugs cause life-threatening infections such as sepsis, which is fatal in children, expectant women and people with chronic illnesses such as cancer or those who just had a surgery.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the John Innes Centre discovered a potent antibiotic, which is produced by bacteria found on a species of ants — Tetraponera penzigi — found in thorny acacia trees commonly found in arid and semi-arid regions in Kenya. These ants harvest fungal spores and pollen from the prickly trees.

The antibiotic, which will treat skin infections, was developed by 27-year-old Ryan Awori and other researchers at the Trek Science, a start-up biotech company, in collaboration with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).

 

Prof Matt Hutchings from UEA said: “Kenyan plant ants live in symbiosis with thorny acacia trees. They live and breed in domatia — which are hollowed-out structures which the plant evolved to house them — and grow fungus in them for food. In return, they protect the plants from large herbivores, including elephants, which won’t eat plants covered in ants.”

He added: “We have been exploring the chemical ecology of protective symbioses formed between antibiotic-producing bacteria and fungus-growing insects to better understand how these associations are formed and explore them as a new source of anti-infective drugs.

Prof Hutchings and his team discovered that the antibiotic in the ants was capable of tackling infections such as pneumonia, skin and blood infections caused by methicillin-resistant bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and another, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), which causes infections of the urinary tract and blood.

Enteroccocci are bacteria that are normally present in the human intestines and in the female genital tract. While MRSA is found in the skin, inside the nose, armpits, groin and buttocks, it is commonly spread in health facilities.

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

The antibiotics, named Formicamycins — after the Latin word formica, for ant — is a great stride towards solving the maze that is antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This occurs when disease-causing bacteria and fungi become resistant to one or more antibiotics — largely because the bacteria changes such that it reduces the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals or other agents designed to cure or prevent infections.

As a result, the bacteria survives, multiplies and wreaks havoc on human beings.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) warns that such resistance makes it risky to carry out invasive surgeries such as organ transplants, as well as chemotherapy and diabetes management.

Inappropriate use of these antibiotics in humans and animals (to treat viral infections) — which are the most commonly prescribed drugs in hospitals or bought over the counter without a prescription — in turn contributes to AMR. At the same time, it also occurs naturally over time due to genetic changes.

Prof Barrie Wilkinson from JIC said: “Our findings highlight the importance of searching as-yet-under-explored environments, which, when combined with recent advances in genome sequencing and editing, enables the discovery of new species making natural product antibiotics which could prove invaluable in the fight against AMR.”

COUNTERFEIT DRUGS

These are some of the findings of the study titled Formicamycins, antibacterial polyketides produced by Streptimyces formicae isolated from African Tetreponera plant-ants, which is published in the journal Chemical Science.

Further, the use of sub-standard and counterfeit antimalarial drugs to treat such infections instead embolden the microbes, which become resistant. This could reverse the gains made in treating preventable diseases.

Other efforts to address the microbial resistance from Kenya also include a new antibiotic — Mursamacin — which is derived from roundworms from soils found in the central region. The worms release beneficial bacteria which produces antibiotics that destroy rot-causing bacteria found in soils.

The antibiotic, which will treat skin infections, was developed by 27-year-old Ryan Awori and other researchers at the Trek Science, a start-up biotech company, in collaboration with the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (Icipe), the University of Nairobi and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (Kalro).