Avilamycin is a mixture of oligosaccharides of the orthosomycin group,that are produced by Streptomyces viridoehronogenes Tu-57.Other members of this group include curamycin and everninomycins.Avilamycin is mainly active against gram-positive bacteria It has a unique structure and the property of easy degradation,and is quite safe with little toxicity and few remains in the intestines.It is also easy to process and widely used in feed addictives to improve the growth and disease-resistance of the domestic animals.Avilamycin A has been proposed to be a translation inhibitor binding to the 30S ribosomal subunit,and it was suggested that the drug acts by preventing the attachment of tRNA to the ribosomes.Avilamycin has never been used for therapeutic purposes in either human or veterinary medicine but a related compound,everninomycins,has been suggested for evaluation in human therapy.