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The most powerful antibiotic you’ve never heard of was sitting under scientists’ noses for decades.
A team from the University of Warwick and Monash University has discovered a hidden molecule that’s over 100 times stronger than existing antibiotics against drug-resistant bacteria like MRSA and VRE. It’s called pre-methylenomycin C lactone – and it was quietly lurking inside a well-known bacterium studied since the 1950s.
Streptomyces coelicolor is a familiar name in microbiology, known for producing the antibiotic methylenomycin A. But no one had tested the intermediate compounds created during its production – until now.
By deleting specific genes in the bacterium’s biosynthetic pathway, researchers uncovered two previously unknown intermediates. One of them, pre-methylenomycin C lactone, turned out to be a game-changer: 100x more active against Gram-positive bacteria than methylenomycin A.
The compound worked exceptionally well against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), two of the deadliest superbugs on the World Health Organization’s priority list. Even more promising: in lab tests, the bacteria didn’t develop resistance to the compound – a rare outcome in antimicrobial research.
[“Discovery of Late Intermediates in Methylenomycin Biosynthesis Active against Drug-Resistant Gram-Positive Bacterial Pathogens.” Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2025]
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