Penicillin is a competitive inhibitor produced by a fungus in order to kill invading bacteria. It does this by mimicking the substrate required by the bacterium to build and repair its cell wall
Describe how mimicking the substrate would result in the death of the bacterium.
As a competitive inhibitor, it must bind to the active site of the bacterial enzyme where the correct substrate typically binds. Binding to the active site blocks the correct substrate from binding and prevents the correct products from being formed. Without these products, the bacterium cannot repair its cell wall and consequently dies.
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