A team of scientists at the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad have identified a novel strain of bacterium that produces compounds with antibiotic properties.

A strain of Streptomyces species has been isolated from the Institute’s soil that produces two anti-biotic compounds. The novel strain, called RAB 12, produces the chemical compounds RSP 01 and RSP 02 that showed antimicrobial activity. Both these compounds have exhibited antibiotic activity ten times more potent than Actinomycin D.

A drug on the list of WHO’s ‘List of Essential Medicines’, Actinomycin D exhibits both antibiotic and anti-tumour activity. It is among the oldest drugs used for treatment of many types of cancers.

IICT has put together a large repository of bacterial isolates from soils collected from various parts of the country. The researchers are yet to analyse the antibiotic potential of many of those isolates. In the case of RAB 12, the two compounds, RSP 01 and 02, are promising candidates for industrial and clinical applications.