Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 15, 2026

Enramycin

Enramycin is a polypeptide antibiotic produced by Streptomyces fungicidus. Enramycin is widely used as a feed additive for pigs and chickens to prevent necrotic enteritis induced by Gram-positive gut pathogens.

Last revised
Jul 15, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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282 w
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Wikipedia ↗
Enramycin
Clinical data
ATCvet code
Identifiers
CAS Number
PubChem CID
ChemSpider
UNII
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Chemical and physical data
FormulaC107H138Cl2N26O31
Molar mass2355.33 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)
  • CCC(C)CCCC/C=C/C=C/C(=O)NC(CC(=O)O)C(=O)NC1C(OC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)C(NC(=O)N(C(=O)C(NC1=O)C2=CC=C(C=C2)O)CCCCN)C(C)O)C3=CC=C(C=C3)O)C4=CC=C(C=C4)O)C(C)O)CCCNC(=O)N)CC5CNC(=N5)N)C6=CC=C(C=C6)O)CO)C7=CC(=C(C(=C7)Cl)O)Cl)CC8CNC(=N8)N)C)C9=CC=C(C=C9)O)C.O
  • InChI=1S/C107H138Cl2N26O31.H2O/c1-7-51(2)17-12-10-8-9-11-13-19-76(144)120-74(47-77(145)146)92(152)126-80-55(6)166-102(162)86(60-28-38-68(143)39-29-60)132-88(148)52(3)117-90(150)73(46-63-49-116-104(112)119-63)124-106(164)134-100(160)84(61-43-69(108)87(147)70(109)44-61)128-93(153)75(50-136)123-97(157)81(56-20-30-64(139)31-21-56)127-91(151)72(45-62-48-115-103(111)118-62)122-89(149)71(18-16-41-114-105(113)163)121-94(154)78(53(4)137)125-98(158)82(57-22-32-65(140)33-23-57)130-99(159)83(58-24-34-66(141)35-25-58)129-95(155)79(54(5)138)133-107(165)135(42-15-14-40-110)101(161)85(131-96(80)156)59-26-36-67(142)37-27-59;/h9,11,13,19-39,43-44,51-55,62-63,71-75,78-86,136-143,147H,7-8,10,12,14-18,40-42,45-50,110H2,1-6H3,(H,117,150)(H,120,144)(H,121,154)(H,122,149)(H,123,157)(H,125,158)(H,126,152)(H,127,151)(H,128,153)(H,129,155)(H,130,159)(H,131,156)(H,132,148)(H,133,165)(H,145,146)(H3,111,115,118)(H3,112,116,119)(H3,113,114,163)(H2,124,134,160,164);1H2/b11-9+,19-13+;
  • Key:NJCUSQKMYNTYOW-MWUYRYRWSA-N

Enramycin (also known as enduracidin) is a polypeptide antibiotic produced by Streptomyces fungicidus. Enramycin is widely used as a feed additive for pigs and chickens to prevent necrotic enteritis induced by Gram-positive gut pathogens.1

Mechanism of action

Enramycin acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme MurG, which is essential for cell wall biosynthesis in Gram-positive bacteria. MurG catalyzes the transglycosylation reaction in the last step of peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Inhibiting this step greatly compromises cell wall integrity leading to cell lysis.2

Spectrum of susceptibility

Enramycin has been found to be very effective against Gram-positive gut pathogens, most notably, Clostridium perfringens; a leading cause of necrotic enteritis. The following represents MIC data for a couple of veterinary pathogens.3

Composition

Standard grade enramycin is composed of two main components called enramycin A and enramycin B. These two components are routinely used as analytical reference standards; however, their activity as individual compounds does not appear to be widely studied or characterized.4

References

References

  1. Schering-Plough. "Enramycin." Darou Gostar Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.
  2. Fang X, Tiyanont K, Zhang Y, Wanner J, Boger D, Walker S (January 2006). "The mechanism of action of ramoplanin and enduracidin". Molecular BioSystems. 2 (1): 69–76. doi:10.1039/b515328j. PMID 16880924.
  3. "Enramycin Susceptibility and Resistance Data" (PDF).
  4. Inoue K, Hattori Y, Hino T, Oka H (April 2010). "An approach to on-line electrospray mass spectrometric detection of polypeptide antibiotics of enramycin for high-speed counter-current chromatographic separation". Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis. 51 (5): 1154–60. doi:10.1016/j.jpba.2009.11.010. PMID 20004073.