Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis . It is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus . more

Streptomycin is an antibiotic drug, the first of a class of drugs called aminoglycosides to be discovered, and was the first antibiotic remedy for tuberculosis . It is derived from the actinobacterium Streptomyces griseus . Streptomycin is a bactericidal antibiotic [ 3 ] . It kills sensitive microbes by inhibiting protein synthesis; more specifically, it binds to the 16S rRNA of the bacterial ribosome, interfering with the binding of formyl-methionyl-tRNA to the 30S subunit. This prevents initiation of protein synthesis and leads to death of microbial cells. Humans have structurally different ribosomes from bacteria, thereby allowing the selectivity of this antibiotic for bacteria. Streptomycin cannot be given orally, but must be administered by regular intramuscular injection . An adverse effect of this medicine is ototoxicity , which can lead to temporary hearing loss. less