Microbial Genomics: Innovative Targets and Mechanisms

Overview

Journal Antibiotics (Basel)

Specialty Pharmacology

Date 2023 Feb 25

PMID 36830101

Authors

Asma Hussain Alkatheri

Polly Soo-Xi Yap

Aisha Abushelaibi

Kok-Song Lai

Wan-Hee Cheng

Swee-Hua Erin Lim

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Multidrug resistance (MDR) has become an increasing threat to global health because bacteria can develop resistance to antibiotics over time. Scientists worldwide are searching for new approaches that go beyond traditional antibiotic discovery and development pipelines. Advances in genomics, however, opened up an unexplored therapeutic opportunity for the discovery of new antibacterial agents. Genomic approaches have been used to discover several novel antibiotics that target critical processes for bacterial growth and survival, including histidine kinases (HKs), LpxC, FabI, peptide deformylase (PDF), and aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AaRS). In this review, we will discuss the use of microbial genomics in the search for innovative and promising drug targets as well as the mechanisms of action for novel antimicrobial agents. We will also discuss future directions on how the utilization of the microbial genomics approach could improve the odds of antibiotic development having a more successful outcome.

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