Synthesis, antimicrobial activity and molecular modeling study of 3-(5-amino-(2H)-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl]-naphthyridinones as potential DNA-gyrase inhibitors.

•Triazolylnaphthyridinones were synthesized as structural surrogates of nalidixic acid against resistant bacterial stains.•The compounds exhibit antibacterial activity against A. actinomycetemcomitans which is often found in localized aggressive and chronic periodontitis.•The DNA-gyrase inhibition assay results proved that compounds 7a & 7e showed significant enzyme inhibition activity.•A docking study illustrates binding modes, in the active site of DNA-gyrase, similar to that elicited by the known quinolone antibacterials.•Computational assessment of molecular characteristics demonstrate acceptable bioavailability profile of the synthesized compounds.•The results could contribute to future research for assisting design and synthesis of manipulated quinolones with enhanced selectivity against resistant bacterial strains.