scholarly journals Cryptic or Silent? The Known Unknowns, Unknown Knowns, and Unknown Unknowns of Secondary Metabolism

mBio ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Hoskisson ◽  
Ryan F. Seipke
Keyword(s):  
Genomic Data ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Bioinformatic Analysis ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Average Strain ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Known Unknowns ◽  
Antibiotic Discovery ◽  
Microbial Natural Products ◽  
Biochemical Diversity

ABSTRACT Microbial natural products, particularly those produced by filamentous Actinobacteria, underpin the majority of clinically used antibiotics. Unfortunately, only a few new antibiotic classes have been discovered since the 1970s, which has exacerbated fears of a postapocalyptic world in which antibiotics have lost their utility. Excitingly, the genome sequencing revolution painted an entirely new picture, one in which an average strain of filamentous Actinobacteria harbors 20 to 50 natural product biosynthetic pathways but expresses very few of these under laboratory conditions. Development of methodology to access this “hidden” biochemical diversity has the potential to usher in a second Golden Era of antibiotic discovery. The proliferation of genomic data has led to inconsistent use of “cryptic” and “silent” when referring to biosynthetic gene clusters identified by bioinformatic analysis. In this Perspective, we discuss this issue and propose to formalize the use of this terminology.

scholarly journals Draft Genome Sequences of the Three Massilia Strains AB1, ST3, and ZL223

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (30) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariel A. Bradley ◽  
Zoephia Laughlin ◽  
Saralexis Torres ◽  
Loralyn M. Cozy
Keyword(s):  
Draft Genome ◽  
Genomic Data ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Nucleotide Identity ◽  
Average Nucleotide Identity ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Antibiotic Discovery

To increase the genomic data available for antibiotic discovery, three independently isolated antibiotic-producing Massilia strains were sequenced. No more than 84% average nucleotide identity was shared with publicly available Massilia genomes, and a low similarity of predicted biosynthetic gene clusters to known clusters was found.

scholarly journals IMG-ABC: A Knowledge Base To Fuel Discovery of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters and Novel Secondary Metabolites

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michalis Hadjithomas ◽  
I-Min Amy Chen ◽  
Ken Chu ◽  
Anna Ratner ◽  
Krishna Palaniappan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Secondary Metabolism ◽  
Genomic Data ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Metagenomic Data ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Analysis Tools

ABSTRACTIn the discovery of secondary metabolites, analysis of sequence data is a promising exploration path that remains largely underutilized due to the lack of computational platforms that enable such a systematic approach on a large scale. In this work, we present IMG-ABC (https://img.jgi.doe.gov/abc), an atlas of biosynthetic gene clusters within the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system, which is aimed at harnessing the power of “big” genomic data for discovering small molecules. IMG-ABC relies on IMG's comprehensive integrated structural and functional genomic data for the analysis of biosynthetic gene clusters (BCs) and associated secondary metabolites (SMs). SMs and BCs serve as the two main classes of objects in IMG-ABC, each with a rich collection of attributes. A unique feature of IMG-ABC is the incorporation of both experimentally validated and computationally predicted BCs in genomes as well as metagenomes, thus identifying BCs in uncultured populations and rare taxa. We demonstrate the strength of IMG-ABC's focused integrated analysis tools in enabling the exploration of microbial secondary metabolism on a global scale, through the discovery of phenazine-producing clusters for the first time inAlphaproteobacteria. IMG-ABC strives to fill the long-existent void of resources for computational exploration of the secondary metabolism universe; its underlying scalable framework enables traversal of uncovered phylogenetic and chemical structure space, serving as a doorway to a new era in the discovery of novel molecules.IMPORTANCEIMG-ABC is the largest publicly available database of predicted and experimental biosynthetic gene clusters and the secondary metabolites they produce. The system also includes powerful search and analysis tools that are integrated with IMG's extensive genomic/metagenomic data and analysis tool kits. As new research on biosynthetic gene clusters and secondary metabolites is published and more genomes are sequenced, IMG-ABC will continue to expand, with the goal of becoming an essential component of any bioinformatic exploration of the secondary metabolism world.

A Natural Product Chemist's Guide to Unlocking Silent Biosynthetic Gene Clusters

2021 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett C. Covington ◽  
Fei Xu ◽  
Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Therapeutic Leads ◽  
Microbial Natural Products

Microbial natural products have provided an important source of therapeutic leads and motivated research and innovation in diverse scientific disciplines. In recent years, it has become evident that bacteria harbor a large, hidden reservoir of potential natural products in the form of silent or cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). These can be readily identified in microbial genome sequences but do not give rise to detectable levels of a natural product. Herein, we provide a useful organizational framework for the various methods that have been implemented for interrogating silent BGCs. We divide all available approaches into four categories. The first three are endogenous strategies that utilize the native host in conjunction with classical genetics, chemical genetics, or different culture modalities. The last category comprises expression of the entire BGC in a heterologous host. For each category, we describe the rationale, recent applications, and associated advantages and limitations. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Biochemistry, Volume 90 is June 2021. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals A chromatogram-simplified Streptomyces albus host for heterologous production of natural products

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asif Fazal ◽  
Divya Thankachan ◽  
Ellie Harris ◽  
Ryan F. Seipke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Heterologous Production ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Streptomyces Albus ◽  
Microbial Natural Products ◽  
Suitable Expression

AbstractCloning natural product biosynthetic gene clusters from cultured or uncultured sources and their subsequent expression by genetically tractable heterologous hosts is an essential strategy for the elucidation and characterisation of novel microbial natural products. The availability of suitable expression hosts is a critical aspect of this workflow. In this work, we mutagenised five endogenous biosynthetic gene clusters from Streptomyces albus S4, which reduced the complexity of chemical extracts generated from the strain and eliminated antifungal and antibacterial bioactivity. We showed that the resulting quintuple mutant can express foreign BGCs by heterologously producing actinorhodin, cinnamycin and prunustatin. We envisage that our strain will be a useful addition to the growing suite of heterologous expression hosts available for exploring microbial secondary metabolism.

scholarly journals Complete Genome Sequence of the Putative Phosphonate Producer Streptomyces sp. Strain I6, Isolated from Indonesian Mangrove Sediment

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Krause ◽  
Shanti Ratnakomala ◽  
Puspita Lisdiyanti ◽  
Regina Ort-Winklbauer ◽  
Wolfgang Wohlleben ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Sequence ◽  
Complete Genome Sequence ◽  
Sediment Sample ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Bioinformatic Analysis ◽  
Mangrove Sediment ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Streptomyces Sp

Streptomyces sp. strain I6 is a novel strain isolated from an Indonesian mangrove sediment sample. Bioinformatic analysis of the genome sequence of Streptomyces sp. I6 revealed 23 biosynthetic gene clusters.

scholarly journals A chromatogram-simplified Streptomyces albus host for heterologous production of natural products

2019 ◽  
Vol 113 (4) ◽  
pp. 511-520 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asif Fazal ◽  
Divya Thankachan ◽  
Ellie Harris ◽  
Ryan F. Seipke
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Natural Product ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Heterologous Production ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Streptomyces Albus ◽  
Microbial Natural Products ◽  
Suitable Expression

AbstractCloning natural product biosynthetic gene clusters from cultured or uncultured sources and their subsequent expression by genetically tractable heterologous hosts is an essential strategy for the elucidation and characterisation of novel microbial natural products. The availability of suitable expression hosts is a critical aspect of this workflow. In this work, we mutagenised five endogenous biosynthetic gene clusters from Streptomyces albus S4, which reduced the complexity of chemical extracts generated from the strain and eliminated antifungal and antibacterial bioactivity. We showed that the resulting quintuple mutant can express foreign biosynthetic gene clusters by heterologously producing actinorhodin, cinnamycin and prunustatin. We envisage that our strain will be a useful addition to the growing suite of heterologous expression hosts available for exploring microbial secondary metabolism.

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