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Polymyxins are antibiotics isolated from Bacillus polymyxin (B. aerosporin); with a general structure of a cyclic http://www.answers.com/topic/peptide with a long http://www.answers.com/topic/hydrophobe-1 tail. They disrupt the structure of the bacterial cell membrane by interacting with its http://www.answers.com/topic/phospholipid.
Polymyxins have a bactericidal effect on http://www.answers.com/topic/gram-negative http://www.answers.com/topic/bacilli, especially on http://www.answers.com/topic/pseudomonas-2 and http://www.answers.com/topic/coliform-bacteria organisms.
Polymyxin antibiotics are highly http://www.answers.com/topic/neurotoxicity and http://www.answers.com/topic/nephrotoxicity, and very poorly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract. Polymyxins also have antifungal activity.
