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Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, produces a diverse array of lipids, some of which help the pathogen to persist within and harm the host. In this study, the authors characterize a biosynthetic gene cluster that Mtb uses to make oxazolone lipids through modification of the amino acid tryptophan. This work uncovers a second pathway by which Mtb produced oxazolones, suggesting that these molecules play an important physiological role in mycobacterial metabolism and may point toward new drug targets for tuberculosis.

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