Survey of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters from Sequenced Myxobacteria Reveals Unexplored Biosynthetic Potential

Abstract

Coinciding with the increase in sequenced bacteria, mining of bacterial genomes for biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) has become a critical component of natural product discovery. The order Myxococcales, a reputable source of biologically active secondary metabolites, spans three suborders which all include natural product producing representatives. Utilizing the BiG-SCAPE-CORASON platform to generate a sequence similarity network that contains 994 BGCs from 36 sequenced myxobacteria deposited in the antiSMASH database, a total of 843 BGCs with lower than 75% similarity scores to characterized clusters within the MIBiG database are presented. This survey provides the biosynthetic diversity of these BGCs and an assessment of the predicted chemical space yet to be discovered. Considering the mere snapshot of myxobacteria included in this analysis, these untapped BGCs exemplify the potential for natural product discovery from myxobacteria.

Predatory Organisms with Untapped Biosynthetic Potential: Descriptions of Novel Corallococcus Species C. aberystwythensis sp. nov., C. carmarthensis sp. nov., C. exercitus sp. nov., C. interemptor sp. nov., C. llansteffanensis sp. nov., C. praedator sp. nov., C. sicarius

“…Genome sequencing of 23 Corallococcus isolates revealed an open pan-genome with strains having highly individual complements of BGCs, suggesting that the few compounds isolated from Corallococcus spp. to date represent just the tip of an iceberg of novel Corallococcus metabolites (15,16). Diversity within the Corallococcus genus.…”

Genome Mining for Antimicrobial Compounds in Wild Marine Animals-associated Enterococci

“…Advances in molecular biology, bioinformatics, and genomics have been providing important new tools for exploration and development [40][41][42][43] . Genome screening has identified a large pool of potential compounds encoded by biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in DNA databases 1,[44][45][46] .…”

Identification of a solo acylhomoserine lactone synthase from the myxobacterium Archangium gephyra

“…Interest in this chemical space and the therapeutic potential associated with each elucidated natural product has motivated significant efforts towards continued discovery. Our recent survey of the unexplored, biosynthetic gene clusters from myxobacteria included in the antiSMASH database determined that the potential for such discovery from cultivable myxobacteria remains high 9 – 12 . An oddity reported by this survey was the presence of a solo acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) synthase within the genome of the myxobacterium Archangium gephyra 12 – 14 .…”

“…Our recent survey of the unexplored, biosynthetic gene clusters from myxobacteria included in the antiSMASH database determined that the potential for such discovery from cultivable myxobacteria remains high 9 – 12 . An oddity reported by this survey was the presence of a solo acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) synthase within the genome of the myxobacterium Archangium gephyra 12 – 14 . As obligate cooperators numerous signaling systems have been associated with the coordination of myxobacterial motility and predation including A-signal, a quorum-like signal.…”