Mechanism of Triclosan Inhibition of Bacterial Fatty Acid Synthesis

Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent that inhibits bacterial fatty acid synthesis at the enoyl-acyl carrier protein reductase (FabI) step. Resistance to triclosan inEscherichia coli is acquired through a missense mutation in the fabI gene that leads to the expression of FabI[G93V]. The specific activity and substrate affinities of FabI[G93V] are similar to FabI. Two different binding assays establish that triclosan dramatically...