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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Peoria, Illinois » National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research » Mycotoxin Prevention and Applied Microbiology Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #303222

Title: Discovery of novel phosphonate natural products and their biosynthetic pathways by large-scale genome mining

Author
item JU, KOU-SAN - University Of Illinois
item GAO, JIANGTAO - University Of Illinois
item DOROGHAZI, JAMES - University Of Illinois
item LI, STEVEN - University Of Illinois
item METZGER, EMILY - University Of Illinois
item FUDALA, JOHN - University Of Illinois
item SU, JOLEEN - University Of Illinois
item ZHANG, JUNKAI - University Of Illinois
item LEE, JAEHEON - University Of Illinois
item Labeda, David

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/24/2014
Publication Date: 7/24/2014
Citation: Ju, K., Gao, J., Doroghazi, J., Li, S., Metzger, E., Fudala, J., Su, J., Zhang, J., Lee, J., Labeda, D.P. 2014. Discovery of novel phosphonate natural products and their biosynthetic pathways by large-scale genome mining [abstract]. Society for Industrial Microbiology.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Genome mining has revolutionized the field of natural products, providing hope that new antibiotics can be discovered in time before all remainders are rendered useless against multidrug resistant pathogens. While this approach has been successful in academic settings focused on small collections or individual strains, significant reinvestments in antibiotic discovery by the pharmaceutical industry would require validation that genome mining is superior for bioactive compound discovery compared to traditional methodologies. We initiated a large-scale genome mining driven campaign for phosphonate natural products, a diverse class of molecules with a history of successful commercialization into clinically used drugs and biotechnology products. High-throughput genome mining of 10,000 actinomycetes uncovered an unprecedented diversity of phosphonate pathways contained within 300 strains. A comprehensive roadmap to new phosphonates was established based on a metabolic framework of their biosynthesis. Present are pathways for all known phosphonate natural products of bacterial origin with the exception of K-26 and I5B2, compounds whose biosynthesis is independent of phosphoenolpyruvate mutase. The trove of novel phosphonates encoded within the remaining pathways is estimated to be eight-fold greater than the total number of phosphonates identified in the 20th century. Our campaign has discovered 15 new, chemically diverse phosphonate natural products thus far, including phosphonopeptides with broad-spectrum antibiotic activities and novel sulfur containing molecules. The success of this project demonstrates large-scale genome mining as a worthwhile endeavor for new antibiotic compounds. Additionally, we fulfill the promise of genomics-enabled drug discovery made 20 years earlier during the dawn of the whole-genome sequencing era.