Fighting the gram-negatives

Many microorganisms produce secondary natural products, the potential antibioticeffects of which are extensively investigated. German scientists have now examined a class of quinone-like substancescontaining an additional epoxide functional group for their antibiotic activities. As they report in the journalAngewandte Chemie, the compounds can kill problematic Salmonella pathogens, probably by interfering with theirbacterial stress response system.