From genetic footprinting to antimicrobial drug targets: examples in cofactor biosynthetic pathways.

ABSTRACT: Novel drug targets are required in order to design new defenses against antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Comparative genomics provides new opportunities for finding optimal targets among previously unexplored cellular functions, based on an understanding of related biological processes in bacterial pathogens and their hosts. We describe an integrated approach to identification and prioritization of broad-spectrum drug targets. Our strategy is based on genetic footprinting in Escherichia coli followed by metabolic context analysis of essential gene orthologs in various species. Genes required for viability of E. coli in rich medium were identified on a whole-genome scale using the genetic footprinting technique. Potential target pathways were deduced from these data and compared with a panel

SUBMITTER: Gerdes SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC135229 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature