Antibiotic from mushroom found

LOS BAÑOS, Laguna – Government researchers have found an antibiotic-producing microorganism from a species of mushroom.

The antibiotic can be used specifically in treating diseases of livestock, particularly swine, according to a research team of the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP), an attached agency of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Dr. Asuncion Raymundo of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, a multi-awarded plant pathologist and recent recipient of the prestigious rank of "academician" from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), led the NRCP research team in analyzing the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of Clitopilus passeckerianus, a species of mushroom. (DNA is the tiny component of all living organisms where hereditary characteristics are written.)

Using the Classical and Recombinant DNA Techniques, the NRCP team determined the possible productions of the strong components of an antibiotic called "plouromutilin" found in C. passeckerianus.

Plouromutilin prevents bacteria from producing protein, an essential component of their diets. Without protein, bacteria stop reproducing, consequently ending their ability to cause disease.

This biological compound also serves as the starting material for the production of "tiamulin," another biological compound that is very effective against common pig diseases such as enzootic pneumonia, dysentery, arthritis and mycoplasmas.

The antibiotic discovered by NRCP from mushroom may considerably help solve the swine mortality problem, thus enabling the country to realize full economic advantages from its pig industry, reported Jew Carteciano of the DOST.

Scientists explain that mushrooms have thousands of species. They have classified mushroom under the kingdom of fungi – multi-cell microorganisms that get "food" and energy from other organisms.

Mushroom grows everywhere and anywhere – in farm animal manure, in spoiled food in the kitchen, and in dead barks and leaves in the darkest part of a forest.

Summing up, the DOST-NCRP said, "This research proves that mushroom could no longer be ignored nor considered as just a primitive fungus and a once lowly subject of the plant kingdom. If only other funding assistance could be poured in… further researches for the enhancement of its plouromutilin and tiamulin may boost the country’s swine industry and propel it to a worldwide competitive status."