In vitro antibacterial resistance selection and quantitation.

The study of resistance is vital to the discovery and development of new antibacterial agents. Consider the case where the resistance frequency (the proportion of cells within a population that exhibit a resistance phenotype to the agent under study) of an agent is such that, in an average infection, a mutant resistant to the agent is likely to already exist. This compound will not be useful in the clinic as a single agent, since this mutant can survive its administration, leading to potential clinical failure. This unit provides protocols for determining the frequency and rate of resistance to antibacterial agents, as well as generating resistant mutants for mechanism of action determinations or for use in antibacterial discovery or development programs.