Isolation, structure and biological activities of platensimycin B-4 from Streptomyces platensis

Platensimycin and platencin are inhibitors of FabF and FabF/H bacterial fatty acid synthesis enzymes, respectively. Discovery of natural congeners provides one of the ways to understand the relationship of chemical structure and biological function. Efforts to discover the natural analogs of platensimycin by chemical screening led to the isolation of platensimycin 134, a glucoside congener of platensimycin. This analog showed significantly attenuated activity and critically defined the limited binding space around the aromatic ring and established the importance of the free phenolic and carboxyl group for the activity. The Journal of Antibiotics (2009) 62, 699-702; doi:10.1038/ja.2009.106; published online 13 November 2009