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How can substances made by microorganisms be used as antimicrobial agents?
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antimicrobial agent
Iodine, as in the form of Dobell's iodine solution, is an effective antimicrobial agent.
Substances produced by microorganisms, known as antibiotics, serve as powerful antimicrobial agents by inhibiting or destroying competing microorganisms. In nature, these substances are likely produced by soil-dwelling bacteria and fungi as a survival mechanism to control the growth of rivals in complex environments.12
When harnessed for medicine, these metabolic products act through several specific mechanisms:
- Cell Wall Inhibition: Agents like β-lactam antibiotics disrupt the synthesis of bacterial cell walls, leading to structural failure and cell death.3
- Protein Synthesis Interference: Certain antibiotics bind to bacterial proteins, preventing the synthesis of new cells without harming human cells, which possess different protein structures.3
- Membrane Disruption: Some substances bind to phospholipids in bacterial cell membranes, causing essential components to leak out and killing the cell.3
- Metabolic Inhibition: Others act as competitive inhibitors, blocking essential processes like folic acid or DNA replication.43
Since the discovery of penicillin from mold, scientists have also developed semisynthetic versions by chemically modifying these natural substances to improve their therapeutic characteristics.14