There are predators in the bacterial world that consume other bacteria, much as predators attack prey in the animal world.
A team led by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Dental School suggests that some predator microbes -- bacteria that consumer other bacteria -- might work against disease-causing bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics (Journal of Applied Microbiology, February 2011, Vol. 110:2, pp. 431-444).
Lead author Daniel Kadouri, PhD, an assistant professor of oral biology at the New Jersey Dental School, and his team focused on two bacteria: Micavibrio aeruginosavorus and Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus. The two microorganisms were chosen because they are true predators, according to Kadouri.
"They actually have to consume other bacteria in order to complete their life cycles," he said in a press release. "They have a great ability to seek out other bacteria, invade them, grow in or on them, and kill them."
In a laboratory environment, the researchers found that M. aeruginosavorus was able to reduce populations of 57 of 89 bacteria examined. B. bacteriovorus reduced 68 forms of bacteria out of 83 tested. The bacteria effectively attacked include Klebsiella pneumoniae, a cause of lung infection; Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which can be fatal for patients suffering from the lung disorder cystic fibrosis; and Acinetobacter, which in its drug-resistant form can produce extremely hard-to-treat infections in wounds.
Kadouri hopes that one day medical practitioners can use these predator bacteria to supplement antibiotic drugs in treating life-threatening infections.
A big unknown at the moment is whether predator bacteria can have the same effect on harmful microbes inside the human body as they do in the lab. It is possible that the human immune system would neutralize these bacteria before they could do their beneficial work. But if that problem can be avoided or solved, Kadouri is confident that a new disease-fighting tool may one day be put into use.
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