CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Bacteria, which prey on other microorganisms, are commonly found in the environment. While some of these organisms act as solitaryhunters, others band together in large consortia before they attack their prey. Anecdotal reports suggest that bacteria practicingsuch a wolfpack strategy utilize antibiotics as predatory weapons. Consistent with this hypothesis, genome sequencing revealed thatthese micropredators possess impressive capacities for natural product biosynthesis. Here, we will present the results from recentchemical investigations of this bacterial group, compare the biosynthetic potential with that of non-predatory bacteria and discussthe link between predation and secondary metabolism.