By Justin Goulet/with files from Lethbridge College

Lethbridge College researchers looking to develop new antibiotics using Alberta-based plants

Feb 3, 2021 | 3:11 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The work of two researchers at Lethbridge College has received a boost.

Microbiology senior research scientist Dr. Sophie Kernéis and lab technician Leanne DuMontier are working on developing new antibiotics by testing plants native to Alberta for antibiotic molecules.

Their lab has recently been federally certified to handle Level 2 pathogens – the bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that cause disease. Before this, the lab was only able to work on non-pathogens.

“There is a term we use in microbiology – ESKAPE bacteria, which are known to be more resistant to antibiotics than other pathogens,” said DuMontier in a release from Lethbridge College.

“Those are the pathogenic bacteria that you find causing nosocomial infections in hospitals, such as Staphylococcus aureus. The new certification gives us opportunities to work with bacteria that are known to cause disease.”

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This latest certification aids the work of the Antibiotic Alberta Plant Project, which was launched by Kernéis in 2016.

COVID-19 has boosted the demand for new antibiotics as antibiotics have been used on patients, which, according to the college, has created a drain on the market at the same time that experts are trying to preserve existing antibiotic molecules.

This is where Kernéis is taking a new approach. Antibiotics currently on the market are mainly derived from fungi or bacteria, but Kernéis’ research is focused on developing antibiotics from plants found in Alberta.

Her team has so far collected 45 samples from 16 different plant families, and they’ve identified two molecules with antibiotic properties.

“We believe these plants are very special,” Kernéis stated, citing a variety of factors that make prairie plants ideal for this type of research.

“Because of the climate, the people, the animals eating them and infecting them, because of the soil, they have to really compete to stay alive from year-to-year. From our knowledge, nobody has studied these plants for their antibiotic properties, so we think we may have more chance to find unique molecules.”

Kernéis remarked that larger pharmaceutical companies are “basically not doing this type of research” because the return on investment isn’t good.

“It’s still very important to get new antibiotics, because bacteria are becoming more and more resistant to the ones that we have,” Kernéis said.

“It’s really time consuming and physically demanding, but I think it’s worth it as we need to do our part.”

Antibiotics are also used in food production and cosmetics.

Kernéis and DuMontier have trained 15 research students from Lethbridge College, the University of Lethbridge (U of L), University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Alberta.

The lab also works with researchers from the U of L and UBC and has received funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the college’s Centre for Applied Research Internal Fund (CARIF).