Biochemistry: Elusive source of sulfur unravelled

Actinomycetes: A Never-Ending Source of Bioactive Compounds-An Overview on Antibiotics Production

The discovery of penicillin by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1928 provided us with access to a new class of compounds useful at fighting bacterial infections: antibiotics. Ever since, a number of studies were carried out to find new molecules with the same activity. Microorganisms belonging to Actinobacteria phylum, the Actinomycetes, were the most important sources of antibiotics. Bioactive compounds isolated from this order were also an important inspiration reservoir for pharmaceutical chemists who realized the synthesis of new molecules with antibiotic activity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is currently one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development. The world urgently needs to adopt measures to reduce this risk by finding new antibiotics and changing the way they are used. In this review, we describe the primary role of Actinomycetes in the history of antibiotics. Antibiotics produced by these microorganisms, their bioactivities, and how their chemical structures have inspired generations of scientists working in the synthesis of new drugs are described thoroughly.

Recent advances in the elucidation of enzymatic function in natural product biosynthesis

With the successful production of artemisinic acid in yeast, the promising potential of synthetic biology for natural product biosynthesis is now being realized. The recent total biosynthesis of opioids in microbes is considered to be another landmark in this field. The importance and significance of enzymes in natural product biosynthetic pathways have been re-emphasized by these advancements. Therefore, the characterization and elucidation of enzymatic function in natural product biosynthesis are undoubtedly fundamental for the development of new drugs and the heterologous biosynthesis of active natural products. Here, discoveries regarding enzymatic function in natural product biosynthesis over the past year are briefly reviewed.