Patent ID: 6974680

Claim:
A method for identifying an antimicrobial drug, said method comprising: (a) contacting a candidate composition that is a test antimicrobial drug with a polypeptide encoded by the VIR5 gene from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (b) measuring the imidazoleglycerol-phosphate synthase activity of said VTR5 polypeotide in the presence and absence of said candidate composition; and (c) comparing the imidazoleglycerol-phosphate synthase activity of said VTR5 polypeptide in the presence and absence of said candidate composition, wherein a decrease in the imidazoleglycerol-phosphate synthase activity of said VTR5 polypeptide in the presence of said candidate composition indicates that said candidate composition is an antimicrobial drug, where such an alteration causes a reduction in the inhibition of growth in a Dictyostelium growth assay.