Subtractive genome analysis for in silico identification and characterization of novel drug targets in Streptococcus pneumonia strain JJA

Publication date: February 2018 Source:Microbial Pathogenesis, Volume 115 Author(s): Abdul Wadood, Alam Jamal, Muhammad Riaz, Ajmal Khan, Reaz Uddin, Musharraf Jelani, Syed Sikander Azam Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is a Gram-positive bacterium. Humans are the major target for the pneumococcus. The pneumococcus is a common etiological agent of many different diseases such as bacterial meningitis, pneumonia, otitis media (OM), sinusitis, and conjunctivitis. According to the WHO, the pneumococcus is responsible for causing 1 million deaths each year. In 2000, over 14 million children worldwide under the age of 5 years were diagnosed with a pneumococcal disease, with the highest incidence seen in Africa. The human population most susceptible to pneumococcal infections is that of children due to their immature immune system. A sensational increase in antibiotic resistance among S. pneumoniae has been witnessed in different parts of the world since 1980s. The increase of resistance of S. pneumoniae to antibiotics is of major concern throughout the world. Worldwide, there are concerns about rising levels of antibiotic resistance and fears that the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy may be compromised, resulting in treatment failure and reduced utility of older antibiotics, a comparatively novel method has been used to defeat the resistant pathogens since last decade. The computational subtractive genomics approach is one of them, in which the bacterial pathogen c...
Source: Microbial Pathogenesis - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research