Genome mining methods to discover bioactive natural products

Nat Prod Rep. 2021 Nov 17;38(11):2100-2129. doi: 10.1039/d1np00032b.

Abstract

Covering: 2016 to 2021With genetic information available for hundreds of thousands of organisms in publicly accessible databases, scientists have an unprecedented opportunity to meticulously survey the diversity and inner workings of life. The natural product research community has harnessed this breadth of sequence information to mine microbes, plants, and animals for biosynthetic enzymes capable of producing bioactive compounds. Several orthogonal genome mining strategies have been developed in recent years to target specific chemical features or biological properties of bioactive molecules using biosynthetic, resistance, or transporter proteins. These "biosynthetic hooks" allow researchers to query for biosynthetic gene clusters with a high probability of encoding previously undiscovered, bioactive compounds. This review highlights recent case studies that feature orthogonal approaches that exploit genomic information to specifically discover bioactive natural products and their gene clusters.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / isolation & purification
  • Biological Products / chemistry
  • Biological Products / isolation & purification*
  • Biological Products / metabolism
  • Disulfides / chemistry
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Genomics / methods*
  • Glycopeptides / isolation & purification
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Microbiota
  • Organophosphonates / isolation & purification
  • Terpenes / isolation & purification

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Biological Products
  • Disulfides
  • Glycopeptides
  • Ligands
  • Organophosphonates
  • Terpenes