History of penicillin History of penicillin The history of penicillin follows a number of observations and discoveries of apparent evidence of antibiotic activity in molds before the modern isolation of the chemical penicillin in 1928. There are anecdotes about ancient societies using molds to treat infections, and in the following centuries many people observed the inhibition of bacterial growth by various molds. However, it is unknown if the species involved were "Penicillium" species or if the antimicrobial substances produced were penicillin. The Scottish physician Alexander Fleming was the first to suggest that a "Penicillium" mold must secrete an antibacterial substance, and the first
Penicillin amidase 34 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and . Penicillin amidase Also called penicillin acylase. In enzymology, a penicillin amidase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are penicillin and HO, whereas its two products are carboxylate and 6-aminopenicillanate. This enzyme belongs to the family of hydrolases, those acting on carbon-nitrogen