Mycobacterium ulcerans causes Buruli ulcer (BU), a debilitating infection of subcutaneous tissue. There is a WHO-recommended antibiotic treatment requiring an 8-week course of streptomycin and rifampicin. This regime has revolutionized the treatment of BU but there are problems that include reliance on daily streptomycin injections and side effects such as ototoxicity. Trials of all-oral treatm...

The avermectins are a complex of chemically related agents which exhibit extraordinarily potent anthelmintic activity. They are produced by a novel species of actinomycete, NRRL 8165, which we have named Streptomyces avermitilis. The morphological and cultural characteristics which differentiate the producing organism from other species are described. The avermectins have been identified as a s...

The avermectins are a complex of chemically related agents which exhibit extraordinarily potent anthelmintic activity. They are produced by a novel species of actinomycete, NRRL 8165, which we have named Streptomyces avermitilis. The morphological and cultural characteristics which differentiate the producing organism from other species are described. The avermectins have been identified as a s...

A stereodivergent approach to the spiroketal fragment of the avermectins is described. The strategy utilizes a sequence of three aldol reactions directed by the tris(trimethylsilyl)silyl "super silyl" group. Central to this strategy is that each aldol reaction can be controlled to allow access to either diastereomer in high stereoselectivity, thereby affording 16 stereoisomers along the same li...

J. Econ.Entomol.89(1): 33-38 (1996) ABSTRACT The susceptibility of diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella (L.), larvae to 2 avermectins, abamectin and MK-243 (4"-epi-methylamino-4"deoxyavermectinBI hydrochloride), was assessed through toxicityevaluations of 17-19 geographicallydiverse populations. Both avennectins were very potent to 3rd-instar diamondbackmoth; LC50s for abamectin and MK-243 ran...

Avermectins are potent and popular veterinary pharmaceuticals used globally to fight parasites of livestock and humans. By disturbing ion channel transport through the membrane, avermectins are effective against endo- and ectoparasitic round and horsehair worms (Nematoida), insects, or ticks (Arthropoda), but not against Plathelminthes, including flatworms (Trematoda) and tapeworms (Cestoda), o...

I. Biosynthesis of Avermectins A. Incorporation of Labeled Precursors B. Biosynthetically Blocked Mutants and Characteristics of Each Step in Avermectin Biosynthetic Pathway 1. aveA {aveAI and aveAIh step for polyketide synthase) 2. aveB (step for glycosylation) 3. aveC (step for C22~23-dehydration) 4. aveD (step for C5 O-methylation) 5. aveE (step for furan ring formation at C6 to C8a) 6. aveF...

The avermectins are a complex of chemically related agents which exhibit extraordinarily potent anthelmintic activity. They are produced by a novel species of actinomycete, NRRL 8165, which we have named Streptomyces avermitilis. The morphological and cultural characteristics which differentiate the producing organism from other species are described. The avermectins have been identified as a s...

The 2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology was awarded to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discovery of avermectins, and to Tu You You for her contribution to the discovery of artemisinin. The discovery and development of qinghaosu (artemisinin) as an antimalarial drug is a remarkable and convoluted tale.