Discovery of bacterial terpenoids by genome mining

Terpenoid natural products are widely distributed in nature and possess diverse molecular structures that bestow remarkable biological activities. A tremendous number of terpenoids have been isolated from plants and fungi; however, traditional natural product discovery methods currently face challenges in the identification of new terpenoids due to the enormous library of known compounds. The advent of next-generation sequencing and synthetic biology technologies began the era of genome mining and natural product discovery efforts, including those for terpenoids, have rightfully been stimulated. Data in genomic repositories reveal the presence of numerous putative terpene synthase genes in bacteria, highlighting an untapped potential for terpenoid biosynthesis in these microorganisms. To harness this potential, here we outline genome mining methods for identifying novel terpene synthases and discovering terpenoid natural products from bacteria. The continued identification and development of terpenoids holds promise for their application as drugs and in various industrial and commercial processes.