Achilles’ Heel Identified in Drug-Resistant Staph, and UNC Asheville Undergraduates Helped Find it

New study in the Journal of Bacteriology points to a drug target that could weaken Staphylococcus aureus without pushing it to evolve resistance

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — August 20, 2026 — The University of North Carolina Asheville today announced that a new paper led by Associate Professor of Biology Melinda R Grosser, Ph.D. and undergraduate student Jenna Vidaud was published today in the peer-reviewed Journal of Bacteriology by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The findings identify a promising new target for fighting Staphylococcus aureus, a leading cause of antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S.

The discovery: disabling a single enzyme can strip one of the world’s most dangerous drug-resistant bacteria of much of its power to harm — without a single antibiotic.

The four-year study led by Professor Grosser, Ph.D., and her team of 12 UNC Asheville undergraduate co-authors, was conducted in the Department of Biology, in collaboration with Caitlin McMahon, Ph. D. in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Vidaud, who graduated from UNC Asheville last spring with a double major in Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry, led the project as part of their undergraduate research. Several students, including Vidaud, wrote senior theses based on the work. The first thesis, which contributed to securing funding for the project, came from second author Jackson Coker, one of the project’s earliest contributors and now a medical student at East Tennessee State University.

“We were excited to find that this enzyme hardly matters during normal growth but becomes critical during conditions bacteria would face in a host,” said Professor Grosser. “That vulnerability makes it a promising target for new drugs that lessen the ability of S. aureus to cause disease, without imposing the same selective pressure to evolve resistance as drugs that kill bacteria directly.”

The team focused on an enzyme called YqeK, which S. aureus relies on to clear a stress-signaling molecule that builds up under harsh conditions — like those it encounters inside the human body. When the researchers removed YqeK, the bacteria grew normally under everyday lab conditions but struggled when conditions turned hostile. Just as strikingly, the crippled bacteria became noticeably less toxic, losing much of their ability to destroy red blood cells, a strong signal that they would cause milder disease during a real infection.

The study was funded by the American Heart Association, awarded to Grosser in 2023, with additional support from the UNC Asheville Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Program, the Steve and Frosene Zeis Professorship, the Chemistry Scholars Program Early Undergraduate Research Fellowship (NSF S-STEM Grant 1833604), and the Forrest Fund for Undergraduate Research.

More information on the team of undergraduate researchers and the work they are doing in the lab with Professor Grosser can be found on Instagram @GrosserLab.

About UNC Asheville

UNC Asheville is North Carolina’s public liberal arts and sciences university of the future, marked by technology-driven solutions, hands-on learning, a  student-centered focus and career and professional readiness. With  award-winning faculty, small class sizes, and 60+ academic programs, including  a dual degree in Engineering/Mechatronics with NC State, the University provides free tuition and fees through its Access Asheville program as well as merit scholarships to all first-year students. In the US News & World Report 2026  edition of Best Colleges, UNC Asheville is ranked No. #10 in Top Public  Schools, and No. #12 in Princeton Review’s 2026 Top 50 Guide to Green Colleges.  Known as the Bulldogs, UNC Asheville student-athletes compete in 16  NCAA Division I Teams in the Big South Conference. For more information, please  visit: unca.edu.