The tetracyclines (tetracycline, doxycycline, demeclocycline, minocycline, etc.) block bacterial translation by binding reversibly to the 30S subunit and distorting it in such a way that the anticodons of the charged tRNAs cannot align properly with the codons of the mRNA.

Flash animation illustrating The Role of Tetracyclines in Blocking Translation during Bacterial Protein Synthesis.swf by Gary E. Kaiser, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology, The Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville Campus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://faculty.ccbcmd.edu/~gkaiser/index.html.

Last updated: August, 2018
Please send comments and inquiries to Dr. Gary Kaiser