Enterobacter aerogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the leading cause of severe hospital-acquired infections across the globe, particularly... Show moreEnterobacter aerogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae are the leading cause of severe hospital-acquired infections across the globe, particularly in the US and Europe. These bacteria contribute heavily to the alarming threat of emergence of multiple drug resistant strains, enabling them to survive a wide spectrum of antibiotics. One of the key factors involved in drug resistance is the production of biofilms, a complex exopolysaccharide matrix that acts as a protective component and increase their resistance to external factors including antibiotics. In this study, we described that targeting the bacterial respiratory metabolism entirely disrupts pathways used for energy synthesis and substantially inhibits bacterial growth. Moreover, the metabolic inhibitors decreased the production of biofilms by these bacteria. Two key factors being the bacterial growth and biofilm development were analyzed in this research study. The data indicates that HQNO has the highest inhibition effect which targets essential enzyme complex Na+-NQR in bacterial growth as well as biofilm formation. Thus, the structure of HQNO can potentially be suited for new antibiotic development to combat the problem of multidrug resistant bacteria. M.S. in Biology, May 2017 Show less
