Mass Spectrometry and NMR Uncover Glycopeptide Active Against Superbugs
A novel glycopeptide antibiotic, saarvienin A., has been isolated from Amycolatopsis sp. YIM10, a rare actinobacterium found in a Chinese rare earth mine. Structural elucidation using high-resolution mass spectrometry, 1D/2D NMR, and X-ray diffraction revealed a halogenated peptide core with a unique ureido linkage and five sugar units – including two previously unreported amino sugars.
Saarvienin A. demonstrated potent in vitro activity against Gram-positive pathogens, outperforming vancomycin in resistant strains such as MRSA, VISA, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Unlike traditional glycopeptides, the compound appears to act via a different mechanism, as it does not bind the typical peptidoglycan precursor motif.
"Discovering a new antibiotic is only the beginning," said corresponding author Sergey B. Zotchev from the University of Vienna. "Now we face the fascinating challenge of refining it into a drug candidate suitable for clinical use."
Marine Lipidomics Reveals How Plankton Adapt to a Warming Ocean
In the largest lipidomic survey of marine plankton to date, researchers have mapped how these foundational organisms adjust their cell membranes in response to ocean conditions. Analyzing over 3,000 lipid species from 930 global water column samples using high-resolution mass spectrometry and network analysis, the study shows clear correlations between lipid structure and environmental variables like temperature, light, and nutrient levels.
The team found that in colder polar waters, plankton shorten fatty acid chains to maintain membrane fluidity, while in warmer, nutrient-depleted tropical regions, non-phosphorus glycolipids accumulate at the surface. Deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) zones – just below the sunlit surface – were shown to be hotspots for essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, potentially serving as key nutrient reservoirs for marine food webs.
"Since plankton, especially phytoplankton, form the base of ocean ecosystems, their responses can ripple through the entire marine food web and lead to far-reaching, sometimes unexpected, consequences,” highlighted Weimin Liu in the team’s press release.
Earliest Evidence of Psychoactive Plant Use in Arabia Uncovered
Advanced metabolic profiling has uncovered the oldest known use of the psychoactive plant Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) for fumigation, in 2,700-year-old incense burners from Iron Age Qurayyah in northwest Arabia. Using high-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS/MS), researchers detected the alkaloids harmine and harmane – compounds with antidepressant and antibacterial properties – alongside sterols linked to harmala seed oil.
The residues, found only in residential contexts, suggest the plant was burned for medicinal or sanitary purposes rather than ritual or funerary use. “Our findings represent chemical evidence for the earliest known burning of harmal, not just in Arabia, but globally,” said lead author Barbara Huber. The study highlights the enduring pharmacological significance of native Arabian flora and demonstrates how analytical chemistry can recover lost medicinal knowledge from ancient material culture.
"We're preserving not only objects, but the intangible cultural heritage of ancient knowledge that still holds relevance in local communities today." added Ahmed M. Abualhassan, Heritage Commission co-director of the Qurayyah project.
What DreaMS Are Made Of
A new AI model called DreaMS (Deep Representations Empowering the Annotation of Mass Spectra) uses transformer-based architecture and self-supervised learning to extract structural information from tandem mass spectra – without needing labeled data. Trained on over 700 million unannotated MS/MS spectra, the model reconstructs masked peaks and retention orders to generate embeddings that cluster by molecular structure across instruments and conditions.
Developed by researchers at the Czech Academy of Sciences and collaborators, DreaMS outperforms traditional tools in predicting molecular fingerprints, assessing spectral similarity, and identifying challenging compound classes, including fluorinated molecules. A companion resource, the DreaMS Atlas, maps chemical relationships across 201 million spectra, linking molecules found in foods, microbes, and pharmaceuticals. The model and code are openly available, offering a foundation for data-driven mass spectrometry annotation at scale.
Newsletters
Receive the latest analytical science news, personalities, education, and career development – weekly to your inbox.
