Grant: Project Grant

The rapid rise in antibiotic resistance is accelerating our need to find new antibiotics with novel mechanisms of action. Current antibiotics target a limited number of bacterial processes that are performed by the product of essential genes. However, the cell is an elaborate network of genetic interactions, and many of these interactions are also essential for the cell but are not currently exploited as antibacterial strategies. Here, we will establish the complete network of genetic interactions in the model bacterium Escherichia coli, and use this knowledge to develop novel antibacterial strategies. This project will thus constitute an invaluable resource to better understand bacterial cell physiology while laying the foundations of an original platform for antibiotic discovery.