of humans. As the discovery of new antimicrobial drugs becomes extremely difficult and massive bacterial resistance

emerges, it is urgent to search for new antibiotics. Teixobactin, a depsipeptide discovered in a screen of uncultured 

bacteria, inhibits cell wall synthesis by binding to a highly conserved motif of lipid II (precursor of peptidoglycan) 

and lipid III (precursor of cell wall teichoic acid) and kills a variety of drug-resistant pathogens, including clinically 

resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Mycobaterium tuberculosis. 

Remarkably, since no teixobactin-resistant bacterial strains have been obtained due to its novel modes of action to 

kill pathogens, teixobactin has been considered to be a "star antibiotic". Since the discovery of teixobactin in 2015, 

its biological activity, modes of action, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) have been gradually revealed, 

and its total chemical synthesis has also been achieved, while the research on biosynthesis falls behind. This article 

summarizes the research progress of teixobactin in recent years, discusses the modes of actions that helps it kill 

pathogens without resistance development, and looks forward to the research on its biosynthesis.