Nourseothricin is a broad-spectrum antibiotic produced by Streptomyces variants that inhibits protein synthesis by inducing miscoding. It is commonly used as a dominant selection antibiotic for genetically modified bacteria, yeasts, fungi, protozoa, plants, and mammalian cells. Selection of recombinant strains is based on inactivation of nourseothricin by acetylation of the β-amino group of the β-lysine by nourseothricin N-acetyltransferase.
