Antibacterial Discovery and Development: From Gene to Product and Back.
Concern over the reports of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections in hospitals and in the community has been publicized in the media, accompanied by comments on the risk that we may soon run out of antibiotics as a way to control infectious disease. Infections caused by Enterococcus faecium, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella species, Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and other Enterobacteriaceae species represent a major public health burden. Despite the pharmaceutical sector's lack of interest in the topic in the last decade, microbial natural products continue to represent one of the most interesting sources for discovering and developing novel antibacterials. Research in microbial natural product screening and development is currently benefiting from progress that has been made in other related fields (microbial ecology, analytical chemistry, genomics, molecular biology, and synthetic biology). In this paper, we review how novel and classical approaches can be integrated in the current processes for microbial product screening, fermentation, and strain improvement.
Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv 79005, Ukraine.
Victor
V
Fedorenko
Fundación MEDINA, Health Sciences Technology Park, 18016 Granada, Spain.
Olga
O
Genilloud
Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, Lviv 79005, Ukraine.
Liliya
L
Horbal
Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy ; The Protein Factory, Interuniversity Centre Politecnico di Milano, ICRM CNR Milano, and University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy.
Giorgia Letizia
GL
Marcone
Department of Biotechnology and Life Sciences, University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy ; The Protein Factory, Interuniversity Centre Politecnico di Milano, ICRM CNR Milano, and University of Insubria, 21100 Varese, Italy.
Flavia
F
Marinelli
Clinical Microbiology Laboratory, Meir Medical Center, 44281 Kfar Saba, Israel.
Yossi
Y
Paitan
Department of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel ; Galilee Research Institute (MIGAL), 11016 Kiryat Shmona, Israel.
Eliora Z
EZ
Ron
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005285:Fermentation; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001688:Biological Products