Since August 2025, this page features a monthly selection of recent scientific publications from around the world related to bacteriocins. Each update highlights key discoveries and advances in the field, providing a concise overview of emerging research trends. The aim is to offer an accessible and regularly updated window into the rapidly evolving world of bacteriocin science. Enjoy reading!
December 2025
🧬 A newly discovered bacteriocin shows strong activity against multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli.
This study reports PFS-3, a novel bacteriocin produced by Bacillus velezensis FS-3, and shows that this small, highly stable bacteriocin can inhibit a broad range of bacteria, with particularly strong activity against Gram-negative strains. The authors link its antibacterial effect to disruption of cardiolipin-rich membranes and report low toxicity alongside protective efficacy in infection models, supporting bacteriocins as promising alternatives to conventional antimicrobials.
💊 Nisin can boost antibiotic efficacy and help disrupt Staphylococcus aureus biofilms.
This study shows that combining sub-inhibitory nisin with the veterinary antibiotic ceftiofur significantly reduces the growth of antibiotic-resistant S. aureus strains associated with bovine mastitis. The same combination also displays antibiofilm activity, limiting biofilm formation and reducing viable cells within established biofilms, highlighting how bacteriocins can serve as practical antibiotic enhancers.
November 2025
🌱 Bacteriocin-driven competition enables precise and predictable microbiome remodeling.
This study demonstrates that strain displacement in complex microbiomes can be achieved through natural ecological competition, with bacteriocins playing a central role as selective antagonistic factors. By combining experimental data and ecological modeling, the authors show how bacteriocin-mediated interactions allow targeted replacement of specific strains while maintaining overall community stability. The work highlights bacteriocins as powerful and tunable tools for microbiome engineering based on ecological principles rather than broad-spectrum disruption.
🧬 The human gut harbors a vast, largely untapped arsenal of class II bacteriocins.
This Preview article summarizes and contextualizes recent large-scale work describing a genomics-guided atlas of unmodified class II bacteriocins encoded by the human gut microbiome. It highlights how thousands of previously unknown bacteriocins can be identified, prioritized using meta-omics data, and validated experimentally, emphasizing their narrow-spectrum activity and microbiome-sparing potential.
🧬 A practical engineering roadmap to turn bacteriocins into stable, health-modulating postbiotics.
This review lays out an integrated approach to designing postbiotic products, covering strain selection, inactivation strategies, formulation, and quality control to preserve bioactivity. It highlights bacteriocins as robust, process-tolerant antimicrobial components that can deliver targeted activity and help shape microbial ecosystems in a controlled, microbiome-friendly way.
October 2025
🦠 A newly identified bacteriocin from Bacillus velezensis reshapes gut microbiota.
Researchers isolated and characterized a bacteriocin, PG02, produced by Bacillus velezensis G02. The purified peptide (20–31 kDa) showed strong activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and remained stable after exposure to digestive enzymes. In vivo experiments in mice revealed no organ toxicity but a significant modulation of intestinal microbiota, reducing harmful species while enriching beneficial Lactobacillus populations.
🧫 Cryo-EM reveals how Microcin V precisely recognizes and enters target bacteria.
This study provides a high-resolution structure of Microcin V bound to its receptor Cir, a TonB-dependent transporter in E. coli. Using cryo-electron microscopy, the authors identified an electropositive pocket on Cir that anchors Microcin V with nanomolar affinity, an interaction essential for import and activity. These findings offer valuable structural insights into how microcins exploit natural transport pathways, opening new opportunities for engineering next-generation antibacterial peptides.
🧬 Bacteriocins shape microbial interactions and highlight the genetic versatility of E. coli
This large-scale genomic study of more than 2,600 E. coli strains reveals the remarkable diversity, mobility, and ecological importance of bacteriocin systems. These peptides frequently coexist with genes involved in nutrient acquisition and microbial competition, illustrating how bacterial genomes integrate multiple adaptive traits to thrive in complex environments.
September 2025
🧫 A global exploration reveals the hidden bacteriocin potential of the human gut microbiome.
This study presents IIBacFinder, a new computational tool that systematically detects unmodified class II bacteriocins across bacterial genomes. By analyzing over 280,000 human gut genomes and validating synthetic candidates experimentally, the authors uncover a vast diversity of narrow-spectrum bacteriocins with minimal disruption to gut microbiota, highlighting their potential role in health and antimicrobial discovery.
August 2025
🧬 A fast-track platform to design bacteriocin cocktails against resistant pathogens.
This work demonstrates a rapid cell-free platform to generate and test bacteriocin cocktails, including circular and linear forms, directly against resistant pathogens. It shows how engineered combinations can both eliminate bacteria and limit resistance development.
🛡️ A new peptide class builds permanent pores to kill bacteria more effectively.
A new antimicrobial peptide class (TMcins) was identified, forming stable β-barrel pores anchored by transmembrane helices. These pores provide durable antimicrobial activity and represent a new structural mechanism of action.
🌿 The human gut hides a powerful new bacteriocin: mediterrocin.
Researchers discovered “mediterrocin,” a broad-spectrum bacteriocin from the gut bacterium Mediterraneibacter gnavus. It inhibits both commensal Lachnospiraceae and the pathogen Morganella morganii, with implications for gut health and disease.
🧪 The skin microbiome reveals active, previously unknown bacteriocins.
Metatranscriptomic analysis across human skin sites revealed active expression of diverse antimicrobial genes, including previously unknown bacteriocins. The study highlights the skin microbiome as a dynamic source of novel antimicrobial molecules.
⚖️ Some probiotics worsen infection risk, others protect thanks to bacteriocins.
Different Lactobacillus strains were shown to modulate recovery from antibiotics in mice: L. acidophilus worsened C. difficile colonization, while L. gasseri restored resistance partly through bacteriocin production.
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