Rapid test for distinguishing membrane-active antibacterial agents

In the search for antibacterial agents with a novel mode-of-action (MOA) many targeted cellular and cell-free assays are developed and used to screen chemical and natural product libraries. Frequently, hits identified by the primary screens include compounds with nonspecific activities that can affect the integrity and function of bacterial membrane. For a rapid dereplication of membrane-active compounds, a simple method was established using a commercially available Live/Dead® Bacterial Viability Kit. This method utilized two fluorescent nucleic acid stains, SYTO9 (stains all cells green) and propidium iodide (stains cells with damaged membrane red) for the drug-treated bacterial cells. The cells were then either examined visually by fluorescence microscopy or their fluorescence emissions were recorded using a multi-label plate reader set to measure emissions at two different wavelengths. The ratio of green versus red was compared to a standard curve indicating the percentage of live versus dead bacteria. Nine known antibiotics and 14 lead compounds from various antibacterial screens were tested with results consistent with their MOA.