German researchers analyzed germs that inhabit the human body and found that about 30 percent of people had Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in their noses, but 70 percent did not, the Associated Press reported.
Those without S. aureus have another type of bacteria -- Staphyloccus lugdunensis -- in the nose that produces an antibiotic that keeps S. aureus in check, according to the study published online in the journal Nature.
Lugdunin is an antibiotic compound, a thiazolidine-containing cyclic peptide. It was isolated in 2016 after Staphylococcus lugdunensis was identified as the species of bacteria from the human nose that suppressed growth of species of disease-causing bacteria in that part of the humanmicrobiome.
Ludgunin is a non-ribosomally synthesized cyclic peptide that inhibits growth of Staphylococcus aureus strain. The lugdunin genes are located on a 30-kbp operon. The genes lugA, lugB, lugC, and lugD encode four non-ribosomal peptide synthases, which are preceded by a putative regulator gene lugR
The scientists isolated this antibiotic, which they call lugdunin, and found that it was effective in treating mice whose skin was infected with S. aureus, the AP reported.
Lugdunin may offer a new way to fight antibiotic-resistant staph bacteria, one of the superbugs that pose a major health threat worldwide. Tests of lugdunin in humans have yet to be conducted.
