Nottingham scientists have discovered the deadly superbug MRSA can move on its own.
The is bug responsible for several infections in humans ranging from superficial to life-threatening.
Linked to hundreds of deaths in UK hospitals, it is notoriously difficult to treat because of antibiotic resistance.
But now experts from the University of Nottingham have used a time-lapse video technique to show part of its bacterial make-up is capable of moving on its own, leaving a trail of slime on surfaces as it goes.
Dr Steve Diggle from the university’s school of life sciences, said: “Our research has focused on observing the formation of dendrites – branch-like structures that emerge from the central colony of bacteria.
“Using high-powered microscopy, we saw that the bacteria can spread across the surface of an agar plate (petri dish) in structures that we have called ‘comets’.”
MRSA was previously thought to be completely static, and the discovery could help experts trying to develop a vaccine against the bug.
Dr Eric Pollitt, who also performed the research, said: “It is amazing how the S. aureus cells can stick together and then stay together whilst moving over distances that are incredibly vast compared to the size of the individual cells.”
