Previously, structural studies of ribosomes from a few model organisms were used to understand the fundamental principles of how bacterial ribosomes are targeted by drugs. However, emerging evidence has shown that many lineages of bacterial species differ from common model organisms, such as Escherichia coli, in the structure of their drug-binding residues. For some species, these differences were experimentally assessed and shown to confer intrinsic resistance to ribosome-targeting drugs. Here, we summarize our current knowledge about the natural variation in ribosomal drug-binding sites across bacterial species.
Uncovering hidden laws of dormancy through studies of protein synthesis