Building microbial communities to improve antimicrobial strategies

Abstract

The lack of novel antimicrobial compounds in the development pipeline cries for innovative approaches regarding their discovery. In this Perspective, we discuss how microbial interactions play a significant role in shifting a pathogen’s response to antibacterial treatment and negatively impact patient outcomes. Furthermore, we argue that interspecies interactions are often overlooked in treatment selection and current drug screening approaches, and modeling disease-relevant polymicrobial communities could help in unraveling novel strategies to eradicate pathogens.