ANTI-MICROBIAL AGENTS AND SCREENING METHOD THEREFOR

摘要

A method for determining the anti-microbial activity of a putative anti-microbial agent, the method comprising combining a microbially required nucleotide phosphatase, a nucleoside phosphate and the substance to be tested, and assessing the extent of degradation of the nucleoside phosphate in the presence and absence of the substance. The method thus allows the determination of the extent of inhibition of the nucleotide phosphatase by the substance. Preferably the method determines the degree of inhibition of an RNA helicase such as DbpA, which acts selectively on prokaryotic ribosomal RNA. Suitable DbpA inhibitors are disclosed as well as genetic material encoding for an active form of DbpA.