Answer to Question #64964 in Biology for Roger

Question

Penicillin is a competitive inhibitor produced by a fungus in order to kill invading bacteria. It does this by mimicking the substrate required by the bacterium to build and repair its cell wall. Describe how mimicking the substrate would result in the death of the bacterium.

Answer 1

By mimicking the substrate required by the bacterium to build and repair its cell wall penicillin inhibits the bacteria from making a cell wall. Without the cell wall, the bacteria dies.