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Clever chemistry and a new class of antibiotics

A new class of molecules called acyldepsipeptides — ADEPs — may provide a new way to attack bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics. Researchers at Brown and MIT have discovered a way to increase the potency of ADEPs by up to 1,200 times. Their findings appear in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — As concerns about bacterial resistance to antibiotics grow, researchers are racing to find new kinds of drugs to replace ones that are no longer effective. One promising new class of molecules called acyldepsipeptides — ADEPs — kills bacteria in a way that no marketed antibacterial drug does — by altering the pathway through which cells rid themselves of harmful proteins. (more…)

Evolution picks up hitchhikers

By Guest PostAugust 5, 2013Scienceandrew murray, bacteria, bioinformatics, daniel rice, data analysis, david botstein, Environment, evolution, fittest, functions, genetic hitchhikers, genome, gregory lang, harvard university, hitchhikers, michael desai, mutation, princeton university, resist chemotherapeutics, resistance to antibiotics, survival, tumors

In a twist on “survival of the fittest,” researchers have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called “genetic hitchhikers” that are simply along for the ride. These hitchhikers are mutations that do not appear to have a role in contributing to an organism’s fitness and therefore its evolution, yet may play an important role down the road.

Researchers from Princeton University found in a study of 1,000 generations of adaptation in 40 yeast populations that about five to seven specific mutations, rather than just a one, are needed for an organism to succeed. The knowledge of how mutations drive evolution can inform our understanding of how tumors resist chemotherapeutics and how bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics. The study was published July 21 in the journal Nature. (more…)

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Clever chemistry and a new class of antibiotics

Evolution picks up hitchhikers