Predatory bacteria as living antibiotics – where are we now?

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global health and economic crisis. With too few antibiotics in development to meet current and anticipated needs, there is a critical need for new therapies to treat Gram-negative infections. One potential approach is the use of living predatory bacteria, such as Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (small Gram-negative bacteria that naturally invade and kill Gram-negative pathogens of humans, animals and plants). Moving toward the use of Bdellovibrio as a ‘living antibiotic’ demands the investigation and characterization of these bacterial predators in biologically relevant systems. We review the fundamental science supporting the feasibility of predatory bacteria as alternatives to antibiotics.

Ocular Delivery of Predatory Bacteria with Cryomicroneedles Against Eye Infection

“…This study investigated the use of “living antibiotics” and predatory bacteria as a new class of armamentarium against pathogenic bacteria in an eye infection model. [ 17 ] Additionally, to facilitate delivery, we upgraded the cryoMN platform to maximize the preservation of predatory bacteria activity during preparation, storage, and deployment.…”

Microbial Musings – January 2021

“…Liz and others have been making great strides in deciphering the lifecycle of ‘Bdello’, recognized by her election as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2019. Her colleagues Robert Atterbury (@AtterburyLab) and Jess Tyson, both also at the University of Nottingham, have been leading research aimed more directly at testing the potential of Bdello to be clinically useful in killing pathogens, and the review in this issue assesses the current landscape and progress on this journey [4]. On paper there are many positives for Bdello, such as the lack of any known resistance mechanisms by the prey cells, a relatively broad spectrum compared to bacteriophage and fairly rapid killing in the laboratory, but do they actually work in the human body?…”

Microbial Musings – April 2021

“…This predatory bacterium enjoys a highly unusual lifestyle both in the soil and inside the periplasm of prey bacteria, which it then consumes. I wrote about ‘Bdello’ recently in the Microbial Musings [8] as we published a nice review considering the evidence for its potential therapeutic use [9] and I highlighted one of the authors of this Profile, Liz Sockett FRS (@Bdello_Lab_Nott) from the University of Nottingham, UK, who has teamed up for this Profile with her long-term Bdello collaborator Andrew Lovering, who works down the road at the University of Birmingham, UK [10]. Bdello’s 3.7 Mb genome reflects its dual lifestyle and the need to survive in soil and contains additional genes that enable its unique recognition, invasion and rapid reproduction in the intraperiplasmic site within its prey [11].…”