Ants produce antibiotics that treat wounds

2024-01-14 2024-01-14T11:59:30Z

Weather of Arabia - It is known that some species of ants produce chemicals that carry antibiotic properties. Recently, Matabele ants of the Megaponera analis species were discovered, and these substances are used to treat battle wounds on members of ants of other species, which is a unique event.

These ants are found in various regions of sub-Saharan Africa, and feed exclusively on termites , which prompts them to organize periodic raids on neighboring termite colonies, according to a report published by the New Atlas website based on Nature Communications.

Matabele ants use antibiotics to defend themselves against termite attacks

Certainly, termite soldiers fiercely defend their lives, inflicting serious wounds on invaders, putting infected ants at risk of death if their wounds become infected.

Recently, an international team of researchers made an exciting discovery, showing that the skin of ants changes hydrocarbonally when they receive these wounds, enabling other ants in the colony to detect the attack.

The Matabele ants quickly respond by extracting an antibiotic from a side gland on their body and applying it to wounds using their mandibles. In laboratory experiments, the use of this antibiotic has been shown to reduce the mortality rate among infected ants by approximately 90%.

Discovering advanced medical treatments; Because of ants

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections are among the main bacterial species causing infections, which are often resistant to antibiotics in human infections, and scientists are striving to identify all the antibacterial compounds produced by ants, with the goal of using them to treat antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.

The research was led by Dr. Eric Frank from the Julius Maximilian University in Würzburg, Germany, in cooperation with Professor Laurent Keller from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Dr. Frank confirmed:

“With the exception of humans, no other organism has a similar ability to provide these advanced medical wound treatments.”