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Bioinformatics-driven discovery of skin microbiota bacteriocins as potential antibiotics and probiotics

The Journal of Antibiotics volume 78, pages 606–620 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

The human skin microbiota, comprising a diverse range of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and fungi, plays an important role in maintaining skin health and protecting against pathogenic invasions. Among these microorganisms, certain bacteria produce bacteriocins, which are ribosomal peptides with potent antimicrobial properties. This study presents a novel computational approach to identify and predict bacteriocins from microbial genomes comprising sebaceous region of the skin, aiming to explore their therapeutic potential. Through genome analysis using advanced bioinformatics tools, we identified potential genes, operons, open reading frames (ORFs), and promoter regions linked to bacteriocin production. The BAGEL4 platform was employed to detect structural bacteriocin genes, while modelling bacterial growth and bacteriocin expression under various environmental conditions was conducted using MATLAB’s SimBiology application. The results revealed the optimal conditions for bacteriocin production and highlighted promising candidates for further experimental validation. These findings underscore the significance of skin microbiota as a source of novel bacteriocins, offering potential alternatives to traditional antibiotics amidst rising antimicrobial resistance.

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Notes

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genome/

  2. http://www.cbrc.kaust.edu.sa/btssfinder/

  3. http://www.p2cs.org

  4. http://ggdc.dsmz.de/

  5. http://bactibase.hammamilab.org/main.php

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the London College UCK and Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan, for providing the platform to conduct research. None of the authors has any challenging conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Applied Sciences, The London College UCK, London, UK

    Anum Munir, Alan Janbey, Bilawal Sajjad & Kowsalya V. Perumal

  2. School of Pharmacy, University of Reading, Reading, England

    Kowsalya V. Perumal

  3. Integrative Biology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Atta UrRehman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Hajra Qayyum

  4. Department of Bioinformatics and Biosciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Capital University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Marriam Bakhtiar

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  1. Anum Munir
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Correspondence to Alan Janbey.

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Munir, A., Janbey, A., Sajjad, B. et al. Bioinformatics-driven discovery of skin microbiota bacteriocins as potential antibiotics and probiotics. J Antibiot 78, 606–620 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41429-025-00847-2

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