In Germany, researchers at Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology have discovered a new class of compounds so effective at killing fungi they named them keanumycins—a nod to the fictional hitman John Wick, played by action star Keanu Reeves.
Produced by the bacteria Pseudomonas, keanumycins were shown effective against gray mold rot on hydrangea leaves. Many crops, including grapes and strawberries, are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
The Leibniz team notes that rising antimicrobial resistance requires development of new ways to combat such pathogens. “We have a crisis in anti-infectives,” Leibniz Institute’s Sebastian Götze says in a press statement quoted by iflscience.com. “Many human-pathogenic fungi are now resistant to antimycotics—partly because they are used in large quantities in agricultural fields.”
The team also found that keanumycins are effective against Candida albicans, a fungal pathogen that affects humans. Fungal infections cause an estimated 1.7 million deaths each year.
The study was published recently in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.