Delivering novel targets and antibiotics from genomics

Abstract

Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology have made it possible to elucidate the sequences of the entire genomes of pathogenic bacteria and concomitant advancements in bioinformatic tools have driven comparative studies of these genome sequences. These evaluations are significantly increasing our ability to make valid considerations of the limitations and advantages of particular targets based on their predicted spectrum and selectivity. In addition, developments in gene-essentiality technologies amenable to pathogenic organisms liave enabled new genes and gene products critical to bacterial growth and pathogenicity to be uncovered at an unprecedented rate. This review will describe how aspects of the above capabilities are impacting the discovery and characterization of known and novel antibacterial targets using specific examples taken from a variety of important, diverse bacterial processes.