Mobilization of Microbiota Commensals and Their Bacteriocins for Therapeutics

With the specter of resurgence of pathogens due to the propagation of antibiotic resistance genes, innovative antimicrobial strategies are needed. In this review, we summarize the beneficial aspects of bacteriocins, a set of miscellaneous peptide-based bacterium killers, compared to classical antibiotics, and emphasize their use in cocktails to curb emergence of new resistance. We highlight that their prey spectrum, their molecular malleability and their multiple modes of production might lead to specific and personalized treatments to prevent systemic disorders. Complementarily, we discuss how we might exploit prevailing bacterial commensals such as Streptococcus salivarius and deliberately mobilize their bacteriocin arsenal ‘on site’ to cure multi-resistant infections or finely reshape the endogenous microbiota for prophylaxis purposes.