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Updated: Jun 25, 2025

Extraction of Cofactor F420 for Analysis of Polyglutamate Tail Length from Methanogenic Pure Cultures and Environmental Samples
Published on: October 14, 2021
F420-dependent transformations in biosynthesis of secondary metabolites
1Laboratory of Microbial Biochemistry and Biotechnology, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.
Abstract:
Cofactor F420 has been historically known as the "methanogenic redox cofactor". It is now recognised that F420 has essential roles in the primary and secondary metabolism of archaea and bacteria. Recent discoveries highlight the role of F420 as a redox cofactor in the biosynthesis of various natural products, including ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptides, and a new class of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide-based secondary metabolites. With the vast availability of (meta)genomic data, the identification of uncharacterised F420-dependent enzymes offers the potential for discovering novel secondary metabolites, presenting valuable prospects for clinical and biotechnological applications.
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