Abstract
Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) are groups of microbial genes that play a critical role in producing secondary metabolites with varied functions. Secondary metabolites include compounds such as siderophores, antibiotics, antifungal compounds, toxins, and pigments. The BGCs are modular units that usually contain a transcription factor, core biosynthetic gene, other genes involved in modifications and addition of side chains as well as genes needed for extracellular export. In specific, the metabolites produced by BGCs have diverse biological activities and usually display antimicrobial properties. The genome of Streptomyces murinus strain SPC1 revealed a complete BGC involved in the biosynthesis of the antifungal metabolite, pentamycin, also known as fungichromin. The pentamycin BGC from SPC1 was compared to other publicly available genomes of different isolates of S. murinus. A preliminary analysis of the gene content and organization showed that this BGC seems to be conserved across multiple S. murinus isolates. Further studies will let us understand BGC evolution in bacteria, different aspects of secondary metabolite biosynthesis and utility of BGCs as antimicrobials, and alleviating challenges related to antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Recommended Citation
Kurani, Dhivyan; Korisapati, Vamsi; Mathew, Sheril; Gandra, Sathvi; Thomas, Rebecca; Johnson, Niah; Dhillon, Braham; and Gill, Navdeep
(2024)
"Comparative Genomics Across Streptomyces Murinus Strains to Study Conservation of Biosynthetic Gene Cluster Producing Antifungal Compound, Pentamycin,"
Mako: NSU Undergraduate Student Journal: Vol. 2024, Article 4.
Available at:
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/mako/vol2024/iss2/4