It’s a tale of evolution. Scientists estimate that Enterococcus originated about 425 million to 500 million years ago, around the time when animals first moved from the ocean to land. The dangerous bacteria might have originated from an ancestor that lived in the guts of the first animals to walk on land, according to a new study.
Source: Live Science, May 11, 2017.
The researchers plan to conduct further studies on the genes that allow Enterococcus to survive harsh conditions, with the hope that they may be able to design new types of antibiotics and disinfectants that specifically target this type of bacteria.