Mode of action of albocycline, an inhibitor of nicotinate biosynthesis.

The antibiotic albocycline blocks the synthesis of nicotinate or nicotinamide in Bacillus subtilis cells. The inhibitory activity of the agent is fully reversed by nicotinic acid, nicotinamide, and, to a moderate extent, also by quinolinate. This suggests that in B. subtilis the antibiotic interferes with a reaction step occurring prior to the formation of quinolinate within the biosynthetic pathway leading to nicotinate.