Chapter 16 - Bacteriocins and Its Use for Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria Control

Abstract

Development of multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB) and demand by consumers of fresher foods with no chemical preservatives added, and minimally processed with long shelf life, have increased demand for new antibacterial compounds, which has stimulated the identification, development, and redesign of antibiotics. For this reason, different antibacterial agents, including antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and bacteriocins are now being reevaluated. The latter compounds are peptides produced by different bacteria, which may act against a wide range of pathogens. Some of them are closely related to spoilage and disease-causing Gram-positive bacteria. In this chapter, we reviewed the use of bacteriocins for the control of MDRB. Bacteriocins have different applications in the food industry, especially for biopreservation and shelf-life extension, also as clinical antimicrobials and as microbial control during fermentation. There are different types of bacteriocins successfully applied in the food industry, such as nisin and pedicin PA-1/AcH, which have been authorized to be used as bio-preservatives. But they are only a small fraction of the diversity of these bacteriocins. Bacteriocins are a good option to use against multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens in clinical cases because these AMPs may act at picomolar and nanomolar concentrations and with high specificity. Continuous research will lead to obtaining more diverse and efficient antimicrobial bacteriocins; in this case, recent development of new techniques for identification, purification, and heterologous proteins will allow for new antibiotics that can control MDRB.