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Antibiotics are chemical substances produced by a wide range of microorganisms, among them fungi and bacteria, that kill or inhibit the growth of other organisms. A large number of antibiotics have been identified in nature, most of them as products of secondary metabolism. Antibiotic producers must be resistant to the active form of the antibiotic. Important targets of antibiotics are the synthesis of cell membrane and cell wall, replication, transcription and translation. Antibiotics are considered regulators of microbial populations rather than part of microbial warfare. The susceptibility of organisms to individual antibiotics or other chemotherapeutic agents varies significantly and is the base of its pharmacological use.
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© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Amils, R. (2011). Antibiotic. In: Gargaud, M., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-11271-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-11274-4
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