Discovery of antimicrobials in the past century represented one of the most important advances in public health. Unfortunately, the massive use of these compounds in medicine and other human activities has promoted the selection of pathogens that are resistant to one or several antibiotics. The current antibiotic crisis is creating an urgent need for research into new biological weapons with the ability to kill these superbugs. Although a proper solution requires this problem to be addressed in a variety of ways, the use of bacterial predators is emerging as an excellent strategy, especially when used as whole cell therapeutic agents, as a source of new antimicrobial agents by awakening silent metabolic pathways in axenic cultures, or as biocontrol agents. Moreover, studies on their prey are uncovering mechanisms of resistance that can be shared by pathogens, representing new targets for novel antimicrobial agents. In this review we discuss potential of the studies on predator-prey interaction to provide alternative solutions to the problem of antibiotic resistance.

上个世纪发现抗菌素是公共卫生领域最重要的进步之一。不幸的是，这些化合物在医学和其他人类活动中的大量使用促进了对一种或几种抗生素具有抗性的病原体的选择。当前的抗生素危机迫切需要研究能够杀死这些超级细菌的新型生物武器。尽管适当的解决方案需要以多种方式解决此问题，但是细菌捕食者的出现正成为一种极好的策略，尤其是当用作全细胞治疗剂时，通过唤醒体内的无声代谢途径，其作为新的抗菌剂的来源。无菌培养物或用作生物防治剂。此外，对它们的猎物的研究揭示了病原体可以共享的耐药机制，代表了新型抗菌剂的新靶标。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了捕食者与猎物之间相互作用的研究潜力，以为抗生素耐药性问题提供替代解决方案。