Question

Pretend you are a researcher developing new antibiotics. You first need to choose a bacterial structure that would allow an antibiotic to target specific types of bacteria. In each case below, state one structure that would be an appropriate target for that group of bacteria.

A. Gram Negative Bacteria

B. Gram Positive Bacteria

C. Acid Fast Bacteria

D. All Bacteria

Answer 1

A. Gram Negative Bacteria- Porin channels

B. Gram Positive Bacteria- cell wall peptidoglycan

C. Acid Fat Bacteria- Bacterial nucleic acid structures

D. All Bacteria- cell wall

There are 3 main antibiotic targets in bacteria.

• The cell wall or membranes that surrounds the bacterial cell
• The mechineries that make the nucleic acids DNA and RNA
• The machinery that produce proteins(the ribosomes and associated proteins)

There are 5 basic mechanisms of antibiotic action against bacterial celss.

• inhibition of cell wall synthesis
• inhibition of protein synthesis
• alteration of cell membranes
• inhibition of nucleic acid synthesis
• antimetabolite activity