Antibiotic Resistance in the Tyrolean Alpine Space

The Map

The Antibiotics

Ampicillin

Ampi­cil­lin works by smas­hing the bac­te­ri­al cell wall with a ham­mer-like action, pre­ven­ting the bac­te­ria from repro­du­cing and caus­ing infec­tion. Spe­ci­fi­cal­ly, it binds to an enzy­me that is usual­ly respon­si­ble for cross-lin­king the cell wall structures.

Ampi­cil­lin is a broad spec­trum anti­bio­tic. This means it is effec­ti­ve against a varie­ty of bac­te­ri­al spe­ci­es and can fight them all.

Badge for being a semi­syn­the­tic anti­bio­tic.
While it is deri­ved from natu­ral micro­or­ga­nisms, it is che­mi­cal­ly alte­red to enhan­ce its effectiveness.

Chloramphenicol

The crown repre­sent the crown-like struc­tures for­med by the hyphae of Strep­to­my­ces vene­zu­lea — the bac­te­ri­um the anti­bio­tic is ori­gi­nal­ly deri­ved from.

Chlor­am­pheni­col works by bin­ding to a part of the bac­te­ri­al fac­to­ry (cal­led ribo­so­me) which is respon­si­ble for lin­king the buil­ding blocks (ami­no acids) of pro­te­ins tog­e­ther. As a con­se­quence, the bac­te­ri­um can no lon­ger pro­du­ce pro­te­ins and ulti­m­ate­ly dies.

Badge for being a semi­syn­the­tic anti­bio­tic.
While it is deri­ved from natu­ral micro­or­ga­nisms, it is che­mi­cal­ly alte­red to enhan­ce its effectiveness.

Gentamicin

Gen­ta­micin works by bin­ding to the bac­te­ri­al ribo­so­me, a key com­po­nent in the pro­duc­tion of bac­te­ri­al pro­te­ins, and pre­ven­ting the com­ple­ti­on of the pro­te­in chain, like a puz­zle miss­ing a cru­cial pie­ce, ulti­m­ate­ly lea­ding to bac­te­ri­al death.

The head­pho­nes repre­sent the poten­ti­al hea­ring loss that is some­ti­mes asso­cia­ted with gen­ta­micin use.

Badge for being a natu­ral anti­bio­tic. It was initi­al­ly iso­la­ted from Micro­mo­no­spo­ra purpurea.

Linezolid

Line­zo­lid is often used as a “last resort” anti­bio­tic for dif­fi­cult-to-tre­at infec­tions. It is extre­me­ly important in case patho­gens are alre­a­dy resistant to other anti­mi­cro­bi­als and the­r­e­fo­re a gre­at defen­der if other opti­ons fail!

Line­zo­lid acts as a shield to pro­tect the host from harmful bac­te­ria. It blocks the bac­te­ria’s abili­ty to pro­du­ce pro­te­ins that are vital for their growth and sur­vi­val, effec­tively wea­k­e­ning them and allo­wing the body­’s immu­ne sys­tem to eli­mi­na­te the bac­te­ria more effectively.

Badge for syn­the­tic anti­bio­tic. This means the anti­bio­tic has been com­ple­te­ly desi­gned and pro­du­ced in the lab.

Nitrofurantoin

Did you know that uri­na­ry tract infec­tions (UTIs) are a com­mon pro­blem for astro­nauts during space mis­si­ons? To pre­vent UTIs, astro­nauts often take anti­bio­tics like Nitrof­u­ran­to­in, which works by dama­ging bac­te­ri­al DNA and pre­ven­ting bac­te­ri­al growth. The hel­met sym­bo­li­zes Nitrof­u­ran­to­ins mis­si­on to pro­tect against space-based bac­te­ria and keep astro­nauts healt­hy during their cos­mic adventures.

Nitrof­u­ran­to­in works by dama­ging the DNA of bac­te­ria, dis­rupt­ing their abili­ty to mul­ti­ply and caus­ing them to die off. Just like a bolt of light­ning that strikes with pre­cis­i­on, Nitrof­u­ran­to­in deli­vers a powerful blow to bac­te­ria, wiping them out and hel­ping to pre­vent uri­na­ry tract infections.

Badge for syn­the­tic anti­bio­tic. This means the anti­bio­tic has been com­ple­te­ly desi­gned and pro­du­ced in the lab.

Novobiocin

Novo­bio­cin is a natu­ral anti­bio­tic that was first iso­la­ted from soil bac­te­ria. The­se bac­te­ria pro­du­ce novo­bio­cin to pro­tect them­sel­ves from com­pe­ti­ti­on in their envi­ron­ment. With its ori­g­ins in the soil, novo­bio­cin has beco­me an important tool for fight­ing bac­te­ri­al infec­tions in humans. The far­mer’s hat could be used to repre­sent the anti­bio­tic’s natu­ral ori­g­ins and its con­nec­tion to the soil.

Novo­bio­cin works by bin­ding to a spe­ci­fic enzy­me in bac­te­ria cal­led DNA gyra­se, pre­ven­ting it from func­tio­ning pro­per­ly and inhi­bi­ting bac­te­ri­al repli­ca­ti­on. Like a skil­led cow­boy with a las­so, novo­bio­cin cap­tures and immo­bi­li­zes its tar­get, stop­ping the spread of bac­te­ri­al infections.

Badge for being a natu­ral anti­bio­tic. It was initi­al­ly iso­la­ted from Strep­to­my­ces niveus.

Trimethoprim

Meet sul­fo­me­th­ox­azo­le. It is often used tog­e­ther with tri­me­thop­rim to enhan­ce its effec­ti­ve­ness. The dual action makes the­se two anti­bio­tics a power-team to fight a wide ran­ge of bac­te­ri­al infections!

Tri­me­thop­rim works by cut­ting off the sup­p­ly of folic acid to bac­te­ria, like a pair of scis­sors. Spe­ci­fi­cal­ly, it inhi­bits an enzy­me cal­led dihy­dro­fo­la­te reduc­ta­se, which is essen­ti­al for bac­te­ri­al folic acid synthesis.

Badge for syn­the­tic anti­bio­tic. This means the anti­bio­tic has been com­ple­te­ly desi­gned and pro­du­ced in the lab.

Vancomycin

Van­co­my­cin works by smas­hing the bac­te­ri­al cell wall with a ham­mer-like action, pre­ven­ting the bac­te­ria from repro­du­cing and caus­ing infec­tion. Spe­ci­fi­cal­ly, it binds to the bac­te­ri­al cell wall pre­cur­sor, pre­ven­ting its incor­po­ra­ti­on into the gro­wing cell wall and ulti­m­ate­ly lea­ding to bac­te­ri­al death.

Van­co­my­cin is con­side­red a “last resort” anti­bio­tic, used only when other anti­bio­tics have fai­led, due to its potent action and poten­ti­al for serious side effects. It is often seen as a “super­he­ro” among antibiotics.

Badge for being a natu­ral anti­bio­tic. It was initi­al­ly (1950!!!) iso­la­ted from Amy­co­lat­op­sis oirentalis.