Technological developments driving industrial natural product discovery

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Natural Product Chemistry
• Drug Discovery

Background:

• Bacterial natural products are vital therapeutic agents.
• Traditional discovery methods face high rediscovery rates, hindering pharmaceutical pipelines.
• There's a critical need for novel antibiotics and other therapeutics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review modern technologies for discovering novel natural products.
• To explore how culture-independent techniques advance natural product discovery.
• To highlight the potential of new methods in addressing therapeutic needs.

Main Methods:

• Metagenomic techniques combined with long-read sequencing to identify novel biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs).
• Heterologous expression of environmental DNA (eDNA) for accessing microbial biosynthetic diversity.
• Industrial screening using metagenomics, in situ cultivation, and pico-droplet-based screening.

Main Results:

• Identification of novel biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) is enabled by advanced sequencing.
• Access to untapped microbial biosynthetic diversity through eDNA and heterologous expression.
• Modern screening approaches are accelerating the search for new bioactive compounds.

Conclusions:

• Advanced technologies are crucial for revitalizing the discovery of bacterial natural products.
• Metagenomics and related techniques offer access to novel compounds.
• These approaches hold significant potential for developing new therapeutic agents.