Teixobactin Synthesis Lab Report
In the 1940s antibiotics were widely introduced as a cure for common types of diseases.
However, some of the diseases started to build up a resistance to the antibiotics and in result, the antibiotics became ineffective. In order to help resolve the crisis, antibiotics were found through screenings of soil microorganisms. However, soil microorganism’s antibiotics were depleted by the 1960s and their antibiotic effects were unable to be replicated through synthesis. In this experiment, the researchers developed numerous methods to cultivate uncultured organisms in their environment. The goal of this experiment was to find antimicrobials in the uncultured soil. Through this successful experiment, the researchers were able to discover a new antibiotic …show more content…
Teixobactin was also very active against Clostridium difficile and Bacillus anthracis, while also showing stronger bactericidal activity against S. aureus than the antibiotic vancomycin did. This indicated that teixobactin is a very strong antibiotic. On the other hand, most Gram-negative bacteria were not affected by teixobactin with the exception of E. coli asmB1. When further research was done, it was discovered that teixobactin is not harmful to mammalian NIH/3T3 and HepG2 cells, even when tested at its highest dose. Therefore, teixobactin could be used to treat mammalian diseases. Evidence that supported teixobactin was a peptidoglycan synthesis inhibitor was found when the researchers ran tests using label incorporation in the bacteria S. aureus. The tests confirmed that teixobactin inhibited synthesis of peptidoglycan, however it had no effect on DNA, RNA, or protein. Due to resistance not being a factor, this suggested to the researchers that the teixobactin may bind to a number of targets, but it will not bind to a protein. The researchers then discovered that teixobactin was able to bind to modified forms of lipid II and to undecaprenyl-pyrophosphate. This showed that teixobactin reacts with the peptidoglycan precursor and not with one of the enzymes. Another important piece of information that the
However, some of the diseases started to build up a resistance to the antibiotics and in result, the antibiotics became ineffective. In order to help resolve the crisis, antibiotics were found through screenings of soil microorganisms. However, soil microorganism’s antibiotics were depleted by the 1960s and their antibiotic effects were unable to be replicated through synthesis. In this experiment, the researchers developed numerous methods to cultivate uncultured organisms in their environment. The goal of this experiment was to find antimicrobials in the uncultured soil. Through this successful experiment, the researchers were able to discover a new antibiotic …show more content…
Teixobactin was also very active against Clostridium difficile and Bacillus anthracis, while also showing stronger bactericidal activity against S. aureus than the antibiotic vancomycin did. This indicated that teixobactin is a very strong antibiotic. On the other hand, most Gram-negative bacteria were not affected by teixobactin with the exception of E. coli asmB1. When further research was done, it was discovered that teixobactin is not harmful to mammalian NIH/3T3 and HepG2 cells, even when tested at its highest dose. Therefore, teixobactin could be used to treat mammalian diseases. Evidence that supported teixobactin was a peptidoglycan synthesis inhibitor was found when the researchers ran tests using label incorporation in the bacteria S. aureus. The tests confirmed that teixobactin inhibited synthesis of peptidoglycan, however it had no effect on DNA, RNA, or protein. Due to resistance not being a factor, this suggested to the researchers that the teixobactin may bind to a number of targets, but it will not bind to a protein. The researchers then discovered that teixobactin was able to bind to modified forms of lipid II and to undecaprenyl-pyrophosphate. This showed that teixobactin reacts with the peptidoglycan precursor and not with one of the enzymes. Another important piece of information that the