Includes index.

1 The Development of Antimicrobial Agents Past, Present and Future -- 1.1 The social and economic importance of antimicrobial agents -- 1.2 An outline of the historical development of antimicrobial agents -- 1.3 Reasons for studying the biochemistry and molecular biology of antimicrobial compounds -- 1.4 Uncovering the molecular basis of antimicrobial action -- 1.5 Scope and layout of the present book -- 2 Vulnerable Shields - The Cell Walls of Bacteria and Fungi -- 2.1 Functions of the cell wall -- 2.2 Structure of the bacterial wall -- 2.3 Structure and biosynthesis of peptidoglycan -- 2.4 Antibiotics that inhibit peptidoglycan biosynthesis -- 2.5 Drugs that interfere with the biosynthesis of the cell wall of mycobacteria -- 2.6 The structure of the fungal cell wall -- 2.7 Inhibitors of the biosynthesis of the fungal cell wall -- 3 Antiseptics, Antibiotics and the Cell Membrane -- 3.1 Microbe killers: antiseptics and disinfectants -- 3.2 Polypeptide antibiotics -- 3.3 lonophoric antibiotics -- 3.4 Antifungal agents that interfere with the function and biosynthesis of membrane sterols -- 4 Inhibitors of Nucleic Acid Synthesis -- 4.1 Compounds affecting the biosynthesis and utilization of nucleotide precursors -- 4.2 Inhibitors of nucleic acid biosynthesis at the polymerization stage -- 5 Inhibitors of Protein Biosynthesis -- 5.1 Ribosomes -- 5.2 Stages in protein biosynthesis -- 5.3 Puromycin -- 5.4 Inhibitors of aminoacyl-tRNA formation -- 5.5 Inhibitors of initiation and translation -- 5.6 Inhibitors of peptide bond formation and translocation -- 5.7 Nitrofurantoin - a ribosomal poison? -- 5.8 Effects of inhibitors of 70S ribosomes on eukaryotic cells -- 6 Antimicrobial Drugs with other Modes of Action -- 6.1 Antibacterial agents -- 6.2 A unique antifungal antibiotic - griseofulvin -- 6.3 Antiviral agents -- 6.4 Antiprotozoal agents -- 7 Penetrating the Defences: How Antimicrobial Drugs Reach Their Targets -- 7.1 Cellular permeability barriers to drug penetration -- 7.2 Multidrug efflux in bacteria -- 7.3 Examples of the uptake of antibacterial drugs -- 7.4 Uptake of antimicrobial drugs by eukaryotic pathogens -- 8 The Genetic Basis of Resistance to Antimicrobial Drugs -- 8.1 Mutations and the origins of drug-resistance genes -- 8.2 Gene mobility and transfer in bacterial drug resistance -- 8.3 Global regulators of drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria -- 9 Biochemical Mechanisms of Resistance to Antimicrobial Drugs -- 9.1 Enzymic inactivation of drugs -- 9.2 Modification of drug targets -- 9.3 Drug efflux pumps -- 9.4 Other mechanisms of resistance -- 9.5 Drug resistance and the future of chemotherapy.

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The rapid advances made in the study of the synthesis, structure and function of biological macromole cules in the last fifteen years have enabled scientists concerned with antimicrobial agents to achieve a considerable measure of understanding of how these substances inhibit cell growth and division. The use of antimicrobial agents as highly specific inhibitors has in turn substantially assisted the investigation of complex biochemical processes. The literature in this field is so extensive, however, that we considered an attempt should be made to draw together in an introductory book the more significant studies of recent years. This book, which is in fact based on lecture courses given by us to undergraduates at Liverpool and Manchester Universities, is therefore intended as an introduction to the biochemistry of antimicrobial action for advanced students in many disciplines. We hope that it may also be useful to established scientists who are new to this area of research. The book is concerned with a discussion of medically important antimicrobial compounds and also a number of agents that, although having no medical uses, have proved invaluable as research tools in bio chemistry. Our aim has been to present the available information in a simple and readable way, empha sizing the established facts rather than more controversial material. Whenever possible, however, we have indicated the gaps in the present knowledge of the subject where further information is required.