Analyzing an enigmatic enzyme with potential for new antibiotic drug discovery

An analysis of an unusual enzyme could result in a new generation of antimicrobial medicines to counter antibiotic resistance. Key details in the enzyme-driven biosynthesis of a natural molecule with potent antibiotic activity have been revealed by chemists at RIKEN. This discovery has the potential to enable a swathe of new antibiotics to be developed, which are urgently needed to counter the increasing emergence of drug-resistant bacterial superbugs.