Browsing by Author "Nicholls, Anushka"

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    The characterization of two novel Class II lanthipeptides from Thalassomonas viridans by heterologous expression in Escherichia coli
    (University of the Western Cape, 2024) Nicholls, Anushka
    It is estimated that in 2022, 4.95 million people died from illnesses where antimicrobial resistance played a role, of which 1.27 million people died as a direct result of antimicrobial resistance. With the rising emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, there is an urgent need for the discovery and development of novel antimicrobial agents. In the past, natural products have been a source of successful drug candidates for treating diseases. However, the rate of natural product discovery has largely plateaued due to the rediscovery of known compounds. With the increased emergence of multi-drug-resistant pathogens, the discovery and characterization of novel antimicrobial compounds is paramount to curbing multi-drug-resistant infections and deaths. To decrease the rate of compound rediscovery, new environments must be explored. The bioactive potential of the marine environment has been largely unexplored which presents a reservoir of compounds with unique structural and chemical features. In the past, marine invertebrates and their bacterial symbionts have been a source of many novel natural products with potent bioactivities. Thalassomonas viridans is a Gram-negative bacterium isolated from oyster cultivars off the Spanish coast and previous studies show that T. viridans displays broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity.