Soil-dwelling myxobacteria reveal five new classes of bioactive compounds

Most antibiotics used clinically are based on natural compounds produced by bacteria and other microorganisms. At the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), researchers are using soil-dwelling myxobacteria as a source of new active ingredients. They are able to discover new active compounds primarily in bacteria that have not yet been extensively studied.

Through decades of work, a HIPS research team has significantly expanded the biological diversity of myxobacteria. The team is now making these microorganisms and their genetic data available to the entire research community, as they provide the basis for discovering new bioactive compounds. The researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

An overlooked source of antibiotics

The threat posed by antibiotic resistance is growing worldwide. Research into new active compounds is therefore of the utmost importance to ensure that bacterial infections can continue to be treated effectively in the future. Natural compounds play a crucial role in this regard.

Compared with other microorganisms, myxobacteria remain relatively unexplored, increasing the likelihood of interesting discoveries. After all, the greater the biological diversity of the bacteria studied, the greater the chance they produce previously unknown candidate active compounds.

In the published study, the researchers describe 118 new myxobacteria, as well as their sequenced genomes. In doing so, they significantly expand the available genomic resources. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.

Decades of collecting paid off

Until now, only 11 families and 32 genera were known within the order of myxobacteria. A team led by Prof. Rolf Müller, scientific director of HIPS and head of the department "Microbial Natural Products," collected soil samples over several decades and isolated primarily myxobacteria from them. They were also supported in this effort by citizen scientists participating in the Microbelix citizen science campaign.

As a result, they were able to expand the diversity of these promising natural-product producers to 28 families and 90 genera. In addition, the researchers sequenced the genomes of all newly described myxobacteria.

"The newly isolated bacteria and their genome sequences offer us a rich treasure trove of novel natural products and their genetic blueprints. In virtually every genome analyzed, we find multiple gene sequences for the production of potential active compounds that no one has ever seen before—that's incredibly exciting," says Dr. Ronald Garcia, a scientist in the "Microbial Natural Products" department.

A public atlas of gene clusters

To enable researchers worldwide to use these data, the HIPS team has made ABC-Myxo available: an interactive, web-based atlas of the gene regions that myxobacteria use to produce active compounds. The service is available free of charge to researchers around the world. In the future, the bacteria themselves will be maintained for research purposes by the Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.

The research team was also able to demonstrate that new natural compounds can indeed be derived from the bacteria and their genetic information.

In their study, they describe five new classes of compounds: Myxoquaterines are effective against fungi, sandacrabines are effective against viruses, and sandarazoles have antibacterial effects. In addition, new sorangibactin siderophores were discovered, as well as pyxidicyclines, a novel class of topoisomerase inhibitors.

"Our data impressively demonstrate how important microbial biodiversity is for the discovery of new natural compounds and active ingredients," says Müller.

Citizen science keeps the search growing

"Hardly any new compounds can be found in microorganisms that have already been well studied. Our myxobacterial collection, on the other hand, offers unparalleled potential for discovering truly novel chemical structures. It thus lays the foundation for urgently needed active compounds to effectively treat infectious diseases in the future as well."

Even interested members of the general public can help continually expand the diversity of the myxobacteria being studied. As part of the Microbelix participatory project, anyone interested can collect soil samples from natural areas, send them to researchers at HIPS and thus contribute to the discovery of new active compounds.

Amay Ajaykumar Agrawal et al, Unveiling the Taxonomic Diversity and Unprecedented Biosynthetic Treasure of the Phylum Myxococcota, Advanced Science (2026). DOI: 10.1002/advs.76919

Citation: Soil-dwelling myxobacteria reveal five new classes of bioactive compounds (2026, August 12) retrieved 13 August 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-08-soil-myxobacteria-reveal-classes-bioactive.html

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Reporting from Phys.org contributed to this story.