The antimalarial agent fosmidomycin is a validated inhibitor of the nonmevalonate isoprenoid biosynthesis (methylerythritol 4-phosphate [MEP]) pathway in the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Since multiple classes of prenyltransferase inhibitors kill P. falciparum, we hypothesized that protein prenylation was one of the essential functions of this pathway. We found that MEP pathway inhi...

The bacterial cell wall is essential for survival, and proteins that participate in its biosynthesis have been the targets of antibiotic development efforts for decades. The biosynthesis of its main component, the peptidoglycan, involves the coordinated action of proteins that are involved in multi-member complexes which are essential for cell division (the "divisome") and/or cell wall elongati...

Iron–sulfur clusters (Fe–S or ISC) are essential cofactors that function in a wide range of biological pathways. In mammalian cells, Fe–S biosynthesis primarily relies on mitochondria and involves concerted group evolutionary-conserved proteins forming the ISC pathway. early stage pathway, core complex is required for de novo assembly Fe–S. humans, comprises cysteine desulfurase NFS1, scaffold ...