Species belonging to the Aspergillus genus are known to produce a large number of secondary metabolites; some of these compounds are used as pharmaceuticals, such as penicillin, cyclosporine, and statin. With whole-genome sequencing, it became apparent that the genetic potential for secondary metabolite production is much larger than expected. As an increasing number of species are whole-genome sequenced, thousands of secondary metabolite genes are predicted, and the question of how to selectively identify novel bioactive compounds from this information arises. To address this question, we have created a pipeline to predict genes involved in the production of bioactive compounds based on a resistance gene hypothesis approach.
Whole-genome sequencing reveals untapped genetic potential in Africa’s indigenous cereal crop sorghum