Genetic Engineering of Myxobacterial Natural Product Biosynthetic Genes

BRYAN JULIEN, AND EDUARDO RODRIGUEZ

Manual of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology: Third Edition

ASM Press

Año: 2010; p. 426 - 437

Plants and microbes have been a rich source of bioactive natural products, some of which have been developed for medical or animal health uses (17). The importance of natural products is highlighted by the fact that 34% of all small molecule drugs developed over the last 25 years have been derived from natural products or their semi-synthetic derivates (33). Of the microbes, actinomycetes are the largest known producer of natural products. Recently, myxobacteria have been identified as an alternative source of natural products through the work of the group lead by Dr. Reichenbach at Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung (GBF). From ~7500 strains of myxobacteria isolated, many novel bioactive compounds have been discovered (36). Myxobacteria are gram-negative soil bacteria that have the ability to form complex fruiting bodies under adverse environmental conditions (37), which can be simple mound structures as seen in Myxococcus xanthus or elaborate multi-branched stalked structures as in Chondromyces crocatus. These fruiting bodies house dormant spores that are resistant to many environmental stresses.