Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis

Microorganisms produce a vast repertoire of small molecules—antibiotics, antifungals, anticancer agents—that they synthesize not for basic survival but to compete, communicate, and adapt within complex environments; these secondary metabolites have historically been the most productive source of clinically approved drugs. Researchers use genome sequencing to identify biosynthetic gene clusters, many of which are silent under standard laboratory conditions, suggesting that the chemical diversity encoded in microbial genomes far exceeds what has been characterized so far. Underexplored niches such as deep-sea sediments and the internal tissues of plants, where endophytic fungi reside in close association with their hosts, are drawing particular attention as reservoirs of structurally novel compounds with untapped pharmacological activity. Central open questions include how to reliably activate cryptic biosynthetic pathways in the laboratory and how to move efficiently from a promising metabolite to a drug candidate without losing the structural complexity that drives biological potency.

Works

430,855

Total citations

1,696,198

Keywords

Natural ProductsDrug DiscoverySecondary MetabolitesAntibioticsMicrobial MetabolitesGenome Sequencing