title: Novel approaches to discovery of antibacterial agents.
abstract: Antimicrobial resistance is a rapidly increasing problem impacting the successful treatment of bacterial infectious disease. To combat resistance, the development of new treatment options is required. Recent advances in technology have aided in the discovery of novel antibacterial agents, specifically through genome mining for novel natural product biosynthetic gene clusters and improved small molecule high-throughput screening methods. Novel targets such as lipopolysaccharide and fatty acid biosyntheses have been identified by essential gene studies, representing a shift from traditional antibiotic targets. Finally, inhibiting non-essential genes with small molecules is being explored as a method for rescuing the activity of 'old' antibiotics, providing a novel synergistic approach to antimicrobial discovery.
authors.affiliation: Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research, Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, McMaster University, 1200 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON L8N3Z5, Canada.
authors.forename: Patricia L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Gerard D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000662:veterinary; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D019295:Computational Biology; D004304:Dosage Forms; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D015195:Drug Design; D004345:Drug Industry; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004357:Drug Synergism; D023281:Genomics / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004304:Dosage Forms