Scientists from the University of Leeds say they have identified a key process in the way bacteria protect themselves from attack and that their finding heralds a potential new strategy in the hunt for antibiotics.
The researchers pieced together how bacteria build their outer, defensive wall. The team focused on the gram-negative bacteria E. coli, but the process they have discovered is shared by many pathogenic gram-negative bacteria so it could have importance for tackling other gram-negative pathogens, including the top three on the World Health Organization’s list of priority pathogens.