Abstract
Streptomyces are filamentous, Gram-positive bacteria in the phylum Actinobacteria that are known to produce a diverse array of antimicrobial metabolites. A Streptomyces murinus strain SPC1, contains a 15- gene biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) that produces an antifungal metabolite ‘pentamycin’ (fungichromin), and is shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity against fungal pathogens of palms1. Using SPC1 strain as a reference, we analyzed the conservation of BGCs across 17 other S. murinus strains. A specialized bioinformatics analysis tool, antiSMASH2 , was used to identify and annotate BGCs that produce pentamycin. Pairwise comparison of the 15 genes comprising the pentamycin cluster was performed to generate a binary matrix across all the 18 strains to show the presence and absence of these genes in each of the species. We observed considerable variation in the number and order of genes in the BGCs that produce pentamycin. Additionally, we identified BGCs that are involved in the production of other antifungal compounds. We aim to conduct a thorough micro- and macro-synteny analysis in the S. murinus strains and other sister species, followed by a phylogenetic analysis to assess the evolutionary relationships in species with conserved pentamycin-producing BGC. This study will generate valuable insights into understanding the evolution, adaptation, and genetic pathways involved in secondary metabolite production.
Faculty Sponsors
Dr. Braham Dhillon, Dr. Navdeep Gill Dhillon
Project Type
Event
Location
Alvin Sherman Library
Start Date
4-2-2025 2:15 PM
End Date
4-3-2025 12:00 AM
Comparative Genomics Across Streptomyces murinus Strains to Identify Biosynthetic Gene Cluster for Antifungal Metabolite 'Pentamycin'
Alvin Sherman Library
Streptomyces are filamentous, Gram-positive bacteria in the phylum Actinobacteria that are known to produce a diverse array of antimicrobial metabolites. A Streptomyces murinus strain SPC1, contains a 15- gene biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) that produces an antifungal metabolite ‘pentamycin’ (fungichromin), and is shown to exhibit antimicrobial activity against fungal pathogens of palms1. Using SPC1 strain as a reference, we analyzed the conservation of BGCs across 17 other S. murinus strains. A specialized bioinformatics analysis tool, antiSMASH2 , was used to identify and annotate BGCs that produce pentamycin. Pairwise comparison of the 15 genes comprising the pentamycin cluster was performed to generate a binary matrix across all the 18 strains to show the presence and absence of these genes in each of the species. We observed considerable variation in the number and order of genes in the BGCs that produce pentamycin. Additionally, we identified BGCs that are involved in the production of other antifungal compounds. We aim to conduct a thorough micro- and macro-synteny analysis in the S. murinus strains and other sister species, followed by a phylogenetic analysis to assess the evolutionary relationships in species with conserved pentamycin-producing BGC. This study will generate valuable insights into understanding the evolution, adaptation, and genetic pathways involved in secondary metabolite production.
