Which antibiotics target peptidoglycan biosynthesis?
Under some conditions, both ramoplanin and vancomycin probes produce helicoid staining patterns along the cylindrical walls of B. subtilis cells. This work has implications for the design of ramoplanin derivatives and may influence how other proposed substrate binding antibiotics are studied. This was confirmed by in vitro studies involving a wall-membrane particulate fraction from Gaffkya homari in which peptidoglycan synthesis from UDP-MurNAc-tetrapeptide was inhibited by ramoplanin but not by vancomycin. New results support a two-state model for septal and peripheral PG synthesis at mid-cell, involvement of essential cell division proteins in PG remodeling, and mid-cell localization of proteins that organize PG biosynthesis and that form the protein translocation apparatus.