Patent ID: 7026136

Claim:
A method of screening for compounds which reduce antibiotic resistance in a highly antibiotic resistant microbe comprising an AcrAB or AcrAB-like efflux pump, wherein the microbe comprises at least two of the following traits: i) at least one chromosomal mutation in a gene encoding an antibiotic target that renders the microbe resistant to one or more antibiotics; ii) a second mutation, to the same gene or a different gene than in (i), that further increases antibiotic resistance, and iii) increased expression of at least one efflux pump, comprising: contacting the microbe with a test compound and measuring the effect of the test compound on the activity of the AcrAB or AcrAB-like efflux pump, wherein compounds which inhibit the activity of the AcrAB or AcrAB-like efflux pump are identified as compounds which reduce antibiotic resistance in the microbe.