Microbial Natural Products and Biosynthesis

Bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms produce a vast chemical repertoire of secondary metabolites—compounds not required for basic survival but often serving roles in competition, signaling, and defense—many of which have become the foundation of modern antibiotics and anticancer drugs. Researchers study how these molecules are assembled by biosynthetic gene clusters, using genome sequencing to predict and uncover pathways that evolution has already optimized for biological activity. Underexplored sources such as marine microorganisms and endophytic fungi living inside plant tissues are attracting particular attention, since their distinct ecological pressures tend to yield structurally unusual compounds with properties not found in terrestrial library collections. A central challenge is bridging the gap between genomic potential and actual chemical output, as most biosynthetic gene clusters remain silent under standard laboratory conditions, leaving a large fraction of microbial chemical diversity effectively invisible to drug discovery programs.

Works

429,191

Total citations

1,668,315

Keywords

Natural ProductsDrug DiscoverySecondary MetabolitesAntibioticsMicrobial MetabolitesGenome Sequencing