Bacteriocins, Microcins and Lantibiotics (Nato ASI Subseries H:)

Presented here are recent findings on bacteriocins: plasmid-encoded toxins produced by bacteria, which differfrom traditional antibiotics in killing only bacteria thatare closely related to the producing strain. Included areintroductory chapters on bacteriocins, microcins (lowmolecular weight bacteriocins), and lantibiotics (peptideantibiotics containing lanthionine), further, contributionson pore forming bacteriocins, the mechanisms of immunity tobacteriocins, uptake and secretion, as well as evolution ofbacteriocins. It is of particular interest that thelantibiotic nisin is approved for use as food preservativeand another lantibiotic, epidermin, has potential as atherapeutic drug against acne.