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. 2012 Jul 17;7(7):e40734. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0040734

Figure 1. The bacterial peptidoglycan biosynthesis pathway and antibiotics that interfere with it.

Figure 1

Starting with the transfer of an enolpyruvate to UDP-GlcNAc by the enzyme MurA, shown beside the pathway, MurB catalyzes the formation of UDP-MurNAc in the cytoplasm. MurC, D, E, and F mediate the formation of UDP-MurNAc- pentapeptide. D-alanyl-D-alanine is synthesized by Ddl. Two enzymes, MraY and MurG, form GlcNAc-MurNAc-pentapeptide-pyrophosphoryl-undecaprenol, which is transferred to the periplasm. This disaccharide pentapeptide monomer unit is cross-linked to pre-existing peptidoglycan by penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) to form the sacculus surrounding the bacterial cell membrane.