2-Aminoimidazole small molecules as chemical controls against bacterial biofilms

ORGN 551

Justin Richards, jjrichar@ncsu.edu and Christian Melander. Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, 2620 Yarbrough Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695
The deleterious effects of bacterial biofilms have come to the forefront in many areas of our society including the medical, industrial and agricultural sectors of our economy. Despite biofilms underpinning many significant problems, there are relatively few small molecules known that either inhibit biofilm formation or disperse pre-existing biofilms. This work seeks inspiration in small molecule design based upon a class of natural products isolated from marine sponges, which have been shown by our group to possess a range of anti-biofilm effects.