DHAKA, 31 May 2021, (TON): Discovery recognized in Scientific Reports that at least five antibiotics can be produced from rare bacteria found on the seeds. A well-known journal recently recognized a team of Bangladeshi scientists for discovering new antibiotics from rare species of bacteria found on jute seeds.

According to genome sequencing by the research team, at least five antibiotics can be produced from the bacteria, providing a means to combat various kinds of bacterial infections.

The team comprises several professors of Dhaka University (DU), some students, and a member of the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR). They are Dr M Aftab Uddin, Shammi Akter, Mahbuba Ferdous, Badrul Haidar, Al Amin, AHM Shofiul Islam Molla, Dr Haseena Khan (senior member of the team and also a professor of the DU biochemistry and molecular biology department) and Dr Mohammad Riazul Islam (professor at the DU biochemistry and molecular biology department). The study ran for three years at the molecular biology laboratory of DU.

The findings were published in Scientific Reports, an online peer-reviewed journal by Nature Research, titled “A plant endophyte staphylococcus hominis strain (MBL_AB63) produces a novel lantibiotic, homicorcin and a position one variant”.

Dr Mohammad Riazul Islam said “These antibiotics have the potential to fight various drug resistant bacterial diseases.”

Dr Haseena Khan said “The aim was not fixed (when we began genome sequencing). Many microorganisms live on plants such as jute and we were not sure what we would find.

According to experts, the widespread use of antibiotics is leading many infections to develop resistances, and the discovery of new antibiotics is crucial to ensure that they can continue to be treated.