Magnesium: that abundant but essentially humble metal that finds so many uses: tin cans, consumer electronics, aviation, Epsom salts, transport…..and many more. But could it be the clue to an exciting new development in the study of antibiotic resistance? Tessa Koumoundouros of Science Alert seems to think so.
A team At UC San Diego think that magnesium is the “Achilles heel” of antibiotic resistance in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. It’s classic Darwinian Natural Selection in action. Put them in an environment with lots of antibiotic, and, hey presto, one particular strain evolves resistance. They get a competitive advantage and start to out-breed their pals without the resistant gene. But: there is no free lunch in Nature. To get an advantage in one area you have to pay a price somewhere else. Because the non resistant, more generally adapted strain are much better at coping when the magnesium levels in the environment drop. As Tessa explains:
Depriving environments of magnesium could counter the bacteria’s ability to thrive. And because unmutated strains don’t share the same flaw, reducing the key nutrient shouldn’t adversely impact bacteria needed for a healthy microbiome.
Her article contains a really clear explanation, and some good images. Great journalism.
It’s funny how research in one area suddenly gets a boost from something slightly unexpected and left-field. If we are to overcome antibiotic resistance, yes, new drugs will be needed. But, eventually, resistance will develop to them. We need other techniques too, to work alongside the new drugs. And this idea of nutrient balance seems like a really fruitful one to us.
[1]https://www.sciencealert.com/achilles-heel-of-drug-resistant-bacteria-has-been-found-scientists-say
[2]https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adq5249
#magnesium #antibiotic resistance #health #medicine #microbiology #natural selection
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