LC-MS/MS profiling-based secondary metabolite screening of Myxococcus xanthus

Myxobacteria, Gram-negative soil bacteria, are a well-known producer of bioactive secondary metabolites. Therefore, this study presents a methodological approach for the high-throughput screening of secondary metabolites from 4 wild-type Myxococcus xanthus strains. First, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was performed using extracellular crude extracts. As a result, 22 metabolite peaks were detected, and the metabolite profiling was then conducted using the m/z value, retention time, and MS/MS fragmentation pattern analyses. Among the peaks, one unknown compound peak was identified as analogous to the myxalamid A, B, and C series. An analysis of the tandem mass spectrometric fragmentation patterns and HR-MS identified myxalamid K as a new compound derived from M. xanthus. In conclusion, LC-MS/MS-based chemical screening of diverse secondary metabolites would appear to be an effective approach for discovering unknown microbial secondary metabolites.