Think-Share-Pair Questions

1. As we will see in Unit 2, the antibiotic bacitracin binds to bactoprenol after it inserts a peptidoglycan monomer into the growing bacterial cell wall.

Explain how this can lead to the death of that bacterium.

2. As we will see in Unit 2, the penicillin antibiotics binds to the bacterial enzyme transpeptidase.

a. Explain how this can lead to the death of that bacterium.

b. Could this antibiotic be used to treat protozoan infections such as giardiasis and toxoplasmosis?