BACTERIA that are not merely resistant to antibiotics, but feed on them are widespread in soil, say researchers who have discovered them by chance.
A team of microbiologists led by George Church of Harvard University were hunting for soil bacteria that can turn plant waste into biofuels. They grew soil samples in pure antibiotics as a control and found instead that there were hundreds of species that thrived on various types of antibiotics. 鈥淲e expected not to find a lot of bacteria that could eat antibiotics for breakfast,鈥� Church says. 鈥淲e were kind of surprised鈥� (Science, ).
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, such as MRSA, can grow despite the presence of the drug they are resistant to. In contrast, the soil-based 鈥渦ltra-bugs鈥� can not only resist many antibiotics, they can subsist on a diet of them, including modern-day 鈥渟ilver bullets鈥� such as ciprofloxacin.
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The discovery is worrying because, although none of the bacteria cause human disease, it shows there is a large reservoir of mechanisms by which pathogenic bacteria could develop resistance.
