A symbiotic bacterium of shipworms produces a compound with broad spectrum anti-apicomplexan activity.

ABSTRACT: Apicomplexan parasites cause severe disease in both humans and their domesticated animals. Since these parasites readily develop drug resistance, development of new, effective drugs to treat infection caused by these parasites is an ongoing challenge for the medical and veterinary communities. We hypothesized that invertebrate-bacterial symbioses might be a rich source of anti-apicomplexan compounds because invertebrates are susceptible to infections with gregarines, parasites that are ancestral to all apicomplexans. We chose to explore the therapeutic potential of shipworm symbiotic bacteria as they are bona fide symbionts, are easily grown in axenic culture and have genomes rich in secondary metabolite loci [1,2]. Two strains of the shipworm symbiotic bacterium, Teredinibacter turnerae,

SUBMITTER: O'Connor RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7274485 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature