Novel antimicrobials targeting MDR pathogens from animal microbial symbionts

Project SummaryThe discovery of new antimicrobials has failed to keep pace with the emergence of antimicrobial-resistantinfections, threatening public health. The overarching goal of the Wisconsin Antimicrobial Drug Discovery andDevelopment Center is to develop therapeutic countermeasures to tackle the antimicrobial resistance crisis.Based upon our preliminary investigations using interdisciplinary, cutting-edge approaches, we hypothesize thatnatural products from animal-microbe symbioses represent a new paradigm in antimicrobial drug discovery. TheCenter proposes innovative conceptual and technical advances to overcome the critical bottlenecks of traditionalantimicrobial discovery to deliver therapeutic countermeasures for the drug-resistance epidemic.RelevanceThere is an ever-present and growing need to find novel, effective therapies for emerging resistant pathogensthat are becoming an increasing threat to the public health. The goals of the Center are to discover newantimicrobial drugs. Our collaborative effort focuses on high-value natural products produced by under-explored sources of biological and chemical diversity.