Compare 3D Structure of Two Penicillin Neutralizing Proteins
E. coli
Penicillin Resistance Protein
B. cereus
Penicillin Resistance Protein
Look at the
E. coli
enzyme in
more detail
, or look at
the structure of penicillin
.
These two enzymes both inactivate penicillin, but by different methods. The one one left is the same aenicillin acylase from
E. coli
that you can see in detail on another page. The enzyme on the right is anohter metallo beta lactamase but this one if from
Bacillus cereus
.
Reset
E. coli
enzyme
and the
B. cereus
enzyme.
Rotate along the X-axis
E. coli
enzyme and
B. cereus
enzyme.
Rotate along the Y-axis
E. coli
enzyme and
B. cereus
enzyme.
Look at the subunit composition
E. coli
enzyme and
B. cereus
enzyme.
As you can see, these two bacteria have evolved different mechanisms to resist penicillin.
What does that suggest to you about the selection pressures for antibiotic resistance and the potential to produce compounds that cannot be resisted by bacteria?