Switching to New Anti-Bacterial Targets: Riboswitches

Early studies to understand the malnutrition disease, beri beri, led to the identification of vitamin B1 (thiamine, inset, top), a nutrient found in brown rice but not polished white rice. The thiamine analog pyrithiamine (inset, bottom) has toxic effects in bacteria, fungi, and mammals — now shown to be caused in part by interactions with thiamine-specific riboswitches. Upper image is Aspergillus oryzae, a fungus that contains the riboswitch and is killed by pyrithiamine. The recently emerged field of bacterial riboswitches may be a good hunting ground for effective targets against bacterial infection, according to a report by Yale researchers in the journal Chemistry and Biology.