Premium
Chemical discovery in the microbial world
Author(s) -
Balskus Emily P.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.258.2
Subject(s) - archaea , computational biology , synthetic biology , biocatalysis , chemistry , chemical biology , nanotechnology , biology , biochemical engineering , biochemistry , gene , catalysis , engineering , reaction mechanism , materials science
Microorganisms like bacteria, archaea, and fungi have amazing chemical capabilities, performing challenging transformations and producing complex, biologically active molecules not easily accessed via any other means. However, we do not yet have an understanding of the enzymatic chemistry responsible for the full diversity of reactions performed by these organisms. Recent advances in DNA sequencing technologies have delivered a wealth of microbial genomes, providing an unprecedented opportunity to discover enzymes that have the potential to change the way chemists make molecules. My lab is identifying new enzymatic transformations by studying the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites with atypical structures or chemical functionality. This talk will discuss our recent progress deciphering the enzymatic chemistry that mediates unusual C–C and C–Cl bond‐forming reactions in several biosynthetic pathways. Functional and mechanistic characterization of these biosynthetic enzymes is revealing new reactivity with potential applications in biocatalysis and metabolic engineering. Support or Funding Information This work is supported by the NSF (CAREER Award # 1454007), the Searle Scholars Program, and the Cottrell Scholar Award.