Overview

Bovine mastitis in dairy cattle is the most costly disease that plagues the agricultural industry worldwide, and costing the United States around $2 billion annually [1]. Traditional treatments usually involve the use of antibiotics. However, the use of antibiotics has led to increasing concerns of resistance as well as negative implications on human health. Furthermore, the development and synthesis of new antibiotics is slow and may not necessarily have the desired effects.

Bacteriocins are natural antimicrobial peptides secreted by bacteria to gain competitive advantage in their natural ecosystems. Functionally, bacteriocins kill target cells via different mechanisms, including pore formation, inhibition of translation, inhibition of transcription, and inhibition of cell wall synthesis. The use of bacteriocins as antimicrobial drugs has three significant advantages. First, bacteriocins are known not to cause harm to humans. One such group of bacteriocins, the Nisin family, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a food preservative [2]. Second, bacteriocins have a remarkably fast evolution rate [3]. Finally, bacteriocins are known to be very specific to certain species within the same genus, although some are known to have broad spectrum activity as well. This diversity among bacteriocins, along with their safety for human consumption, makes them a promising alternative to traditional antibiotics.