THE hospital superbug MRSA could be fought in the future with antibiotics discovered by scientists at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Marine researchers belonging to UKC discovered a new species of actinomycete bacteria under sediment on the ocean floor near Japan, which could soon be helped to fight the superbug.

Deep sea microbiology is relatively new because it is difficult and costly to recover material from water many thousands of metres deep and below the seafloor.

Professor Alan Bull from the University said: “The most exciting discovery has been a chemically-unique antibiotic, abyssomicin C, which has been found, and has properties which could be used to inhibit MRSA.”

The research results were announced at a conference in Edinburgh.