Platensimycin is a novel Gram-positive broad spectrum antibiotic that inhibits bacterial growth by specifically and potently inhibiting the condensing enzyme (FabF) of the fatty acid biosynthesis pathway. It is produced by several strains of Streptomyces platensis and comprises a 3-amino-2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and C-17 tetracyclic enone moieties linked by an amide bond. Feeding experiments using C-13 precursors suggest that the aminobenzoic acid unit is derived from the TCA cycle, and the tetracyclic enone moiety of platensimycin in S. platensis is derived from the non-mevalonate MEP terpenoid pathway by oxidative excision of three carbons from ent-kaurene.