Lethal synergy involving bicyclomycin: an approach for reviving old antibiotics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

One way to address the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance is to revive old compounds that may have intrinsic lethal activity that is obscured by protective factors. Bicyclomycin is an old inhibitor of the Rho transcription terminator that by itself shows little rapid lethal activity. However, bicyclomycin participates in bacteriostatic synergy, which raises the possibility that conditions for lethal synergy may exist, perhaps through a suppression of protective factors.

Methods

Bicyclomycin was combined with bacteriostatic inhibitors of gene expression, and bactericidal activity was measured with several cultured Gram-negative pathogens.

Results

When used alone, bicyclomycin failed to rapidly kill growing cultures of Escherichia coli; however, the

SUBMITTER: Malik M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4228776 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature