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Microbiology Society logo Microbiology

Volume 171, Issue 10

Microbe Profile: KY5: an ANT-ibiotic factory Open Access

This article is part of the Microbe Profiles collection.

Graphical Abstract

 Graphical Abstract 

was isolated from plant-ants and has bioactivity against Gram-positive pathogens due to the production of formicamycins.

 

 

Abstract

KY5 was isolated from a plant-ant nest. It is primarily known for its production of the formicamycins, antibiotics with potent activity against Gram-positive pathogens including methicillin-resistant , and additionally produces an antifungal compound that inhibits multi-drug-resistant fungal pathogens including is genetically tractable using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, allowing for detailed analysis of the formicamycin biosynthetic gene cluster. AntiSMASH analysis predicts the genome to encode at least 45 secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, many of which appear to encode novel compounds. Current research efforts are focussing on characterising the regulation of secondary metabolism at a global level in order to switch on pathways that are not typically expressed under standard laboratory conditions with the aim of identifying novel antimicrobials.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Actinomycetes , natural products , plant-ant mutualism and Streptomyces
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/X00967X/1)
    • Principal Award Recipient: RebeccaDevine
  • Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (Award BB/Y005724/1)
    • Principal Award Recipient: MattHutchings
© 2025 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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2025-10-24
2025-11-13

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References

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