Mechanism of action of the antibiotic thiolactomycin inhibition of fatty acid synthesis of Escherichia coli.

Thiolactomycin, an antibiotic with the structure of (4S)-(2E,5E)-2,4,6-trimethyl-3-hydroxy-2,5,7-octatriene-4-thiolide, inhibits the incorporation of [14C]acetate into cellular fatty acids of Escherichia coli. This antibiotic inhibits the fatty acid synthetase system of E. coli. However, the fatty acid synthetases from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans and rat liver are insensitive to thiolactomycin. This effect may account for the antibacterial activity of thiolactomycin and for its low toxicity in animals.