Designed bacteria produce coral-antibiotic

Horn corals of the species Antillogorgia elisabethae produce antibiotic natural substances. A research team at TUM has successfully produced one of these substances in the laboratory. Image: Thomas Brück / TUM Sustainable biotechnological production of a natural substance against tuberculosis - Corals growing on the reefs of the Bahamas produce an active agent that kills multi-resistant tuberculosis bacteria. Scientists at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have managed to produce the antibiotic biotechnologically in the laboratory - fast, cost-efficient and sustainably. Thomas Brück saw the sea whip Antillogorgia elisabethae for the first time 17 years ago while diving on a research trip to the Bahamas. He still remembers this encounter vividly, which took place 18 meters below the water's surface: "Their polyp-covered, violet branchlets moved gently in the current. A fascinating living organism!" As it also contains various biologically active compounds, the biochemist since then has studied the natural product biosynthesis of this soft coral.