Abstract
Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria have become a global concern, necessitating the development of novel antimicrobial agents. Bacteriocins, antimicrobial peptides produced by bacteria, are promising candidates. In this study, we screened Staphylococcus capitis isolates to identify bacteriocins effective against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). We discovered that one strain, HBC3, exhibited strong activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA. Genome analysis revealed a unique plasmid encoding two bacteriocin synthesis genes: capidermicin, a class II bacteriocin, and micrococcin P1 (MP1), a thiopeptide. MP1 was first identified in S. capitis. Loss of the plasmid abolished the antibacterial activity. We purified both peptides and evaluated their spectrum of activity. MP1 showed broad activity, especially against Gram-positive cocci, whereas capidermicin was active mainly against Gram-positive rods. These findings demonstrate that S. capitis HBC3 harbors a plasmid encoding two distinct bacteriocins with complementary antibacterial spectra, highlighting the cooperative potential of bacteriocins in combating resistant bacteria.
Data availability
The complete genome of *S. capitis* HBC3 has been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database under accession number SRR33407742 (Bioproject: PRJNA1258066).
Materials availability
This study did not generate new unique reagents.
Abbreviations
- MRSA:
-
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- VRE:
-
Vancomycin-resistant enterococci
- MP1:
-
Micrococcin P1
- HPLC:
-
High-performance liquid chromatography
- ESI-MS:
-
Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry
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Acknowledgements
Conceptualization: Data curation: Formal analysis: Funding acquisition: Investigation: Methodology: Project Administration: Resources: Software: Supervision: Validation: Visualization: Writing-original draft: Writing-review and editing: We declare that there are no conflicts of interest.We thank Dr. Tomoko Amimoto, the Natural Science Center for Basic Research and Development (N-BARD), Hiroshima University for the measurement of ESI-MS analysis.
Funding
This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) (Grant No. 21K12886) from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, and by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) under Grant Numbers JP23fk0108606 and JP25fk0108699.
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Conceptualization: Yu.S., M.K.-M. and H.K. Data curation: K.O., Yu.S. and H.K. Formal analysis: K.O. and Yu.S. Funding acquisition: M.K.-M., M.S. and H.K. Investigation: K.O., Yu.S., T.H., M.N.-T.L., J.H., Yo. S., and H.K. Methodology: Yu.S., M.K.-M., and H.K. Project Administration: M.K.-M., T.A. and H.K. Resources: M.K.-M., J.H., M.S. and H.K. Software: Yu.S., M.K.-M. and M.N.-T.L. Supervision: M.K.-M., M.S., S.K., H.O., T.A. and H.K. Validation: K.O., Yu.S. and H.K. Visualization: K.O. and Yu.S. Writing-original draft: K.O., Yu.S. and H.K. Writing-review and editing: All authors.
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Ohdan, K., Suzuki, Y., Kawada-Matsuo, M. et al. Staphylococcus capitis strain producing dual bacteriocins, capidermicin and micrococcin P1, shows broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36393-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-36393-6
