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Volume 167, Issue 1

Predatory bacteria as living antibiotics – where are we now? Open Access

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 (small Gram-negative bacteria that naturally invade and kill Gram-negative pathogens of humans, animals and plants). Moving toward the use of 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.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Alternatives to antibiotics , AMR , Antimicrobial resistance , Bacteriophage , Living antibiotics and Predatory bacteria
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Wellcome Trust (Award 209437/Z/17/Z)
    • Principle Award Recipient: NotApplicable
© 2021 The Authors
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
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2021-01-19
2024-04-18
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