Kirromycin is a potent protein biosynthesis inhibitor. kirromycin does not target the bacterial ribosomes directly but interfere with the peptide transfer reaction by acting on elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu).

[1] H Wolf, et al. Kirromycin, an inhibitor of protein biosynthesis that acts on elongation factor Tu. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1974 Dec;71(12):4910-4.

[2] Lian N Olsthoorn-Tieleman, et al. Elongation factor Tu3 (EF-Tu3) from the kirromycin producer Streptomyces ramocissimus Is resistant to three classes of EF-Tu-specific inhibitors. J Bacteriol. 2007 May;189(9):3581-90.

[3] Musiol et al.Supramolecular templating in kirromycin biosynthesis: the acyltransferase KirCII loads ethylmalonyl-CoA extender onto a specific ACP of the trans-AT PKS, 2011, Chem. Biol. 18, 438-444