ChEBI: D-alanyl-D-alanine is a dipeptide comprising D-alanine with a D-alanyl residue attached to the alpha-nitrogen. It is a component of bacterial peptidoglycan and forms an important target for development of antibacterial drugs. It has a role as an Escherichia coli metabolite. It is a tautomer of a D-alanyl-D-alanine zwitterion.
D-Ala-D-Ala is found in the stem termini of peptidoglycan side-chain pentapeptide found in the cell walls of gram positive bacteria. The D-ala-d-ala stem termini is the site of interaction of glycopeptide antibiotics such as vancomycin and teicoplanin. D-ala-D-ala is a substrate used to study kinetics of UDPMurNAc-tripeptide D-alanyl-D-alanine-adding (ligase) enzyme.', 'D-Ala-D-Ala, a terminus moiety of bacterial peptidoglycans, is used for affinity chromatography and binding mechanism studies of antibiotics such as teicoplanin, ristocetin, vancomycin.