scholarly journals Natural Products from Nocardia and Their Role in Pathogenicity

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Alicia Engelbrecht ◽  
Hamada Saad ◽  
Harald Gross ◽  
Leonard Kaysser
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Immune Evasion ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Human Host ◽  
Metal Chelating ◽  
Systemic Infections

<i>Nocardia</i> spp. are filamentous Actinobacteria of the order Corynebacteriales and mostly known for their ability to cause localized and systemic infections in humans. However, the onset and progression of nocardiosis is only poorly understood, in particular the mechanisms of strain-specific presentations. Recent genome sequencing has revealed an extraordinary capacity for the production of specialized small molecules. Such secondary metabolites are often crucial for the producing microbe to survive the challenges of different environmental conditions. An interesting question thus concerns the role of these natural products in <i>Nocardia-</i>associated pathogenicity and immune evasion in a human host. In this review, a summary and discussion of <i>Nocardia</i> metabolites is presented, which may play a part in nocardiosis because of their cytotoxic, immunosuppressive and metal-chelating properties or otherwise vitally important functions. This review also contains so far unpublished data concerning the biosynthesis of these molecules that were obtained by detailed bioinformatic analyses.

scholarly journals The biosynthetic diversity of the animal world

2019 ◽  
Vol 294 (46) ◽  
pp. 17684-17692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Torres ◽  
Eric W. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Natural Products ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Secondary Metabolism ◽  
Symbiotic Bacteria ◽  
Biosynthetic Enzymes ◽  
Functional Roles ◽  
The Past ◽  
Plant Research

Secondary metabolites are often considered within the remit of bacterial or plant research, but animals also contain a plethora of these molecules with important functional roles. Classical feeding studies demonstrate that, whereas some are derived from diet, many of these compounds are made within the animals. In the past 15 years, the genetic and biochemical origin of several animal natural products has been traced to partnerships with symbiotic bacteria. More recently, a number of animal genome-encoded pathways to microbe-like natural products have come to light. These pathways are sometimes horizontally acquired from bacteria, but more commonly they unveil a new and diverse animal biochemistry. In this review, we highlight recent examples of characterized animal biosynthetic enzymes that reveal an unanticipated breadth and intricacy in animal secondary metabolism. The results so far suggest that there may be an immense diversity of animal small molecules and biosynthetic enzymes awaiting discovery. This biosynthetic dark matter is just beginning to be understood, providing a relatively untapped frontier for discovery.

scholarly journals Small molecules and cell differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum

2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (8-9-10) ◽  
pp. 429-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsuyoshi Araki ◽  
Tamao Saito
Keyword(s):  
Cell Differentiation ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Large Family ◽  
Paracrine Signalling ◽  
Pheromonal Communication ◽  
Signalling Compounds

Dictyostelium is a microorganism found in soils that are known as the battle fields of chemical warfare. Genome analysis of Dictyostelium revealed that it has great potential for the production of small molecules, including secondary metabolites such as polyketides and terpenes.Polyketides are a large family of secondary metabolites which have a variety of structures. In accordance with their structural variety, polyketides have a plethora of biological activities, including antimicrobial, antifungal, and antitumor activities. Unsurprisingly, they have exceptional medical importance. Polyketides in nature work as protective compounds and /or function in pheromonal communication. Terpenes belong to another family of structurally diverse secondary metabolites which play roles in ecological interactions, including defence against predators and formation of mutually beneficial alliance with other organisms. Polyketides and terpenes work as intra- or inter-species signalling compounds, i.e. they play the role of a chemical language. However, in Dictyostelium, they work as paracrine signalling compounds which control the organism’s multicellular morphogenesis. This review is primarily focused on the small molecules that regulate pattern formation in the slug stage of the organism and their biosynthetic pathways. Current in vivo understandings of polyketide DIF-1 induced cell differentiation and DIF-1-dependent/independent pathways are also discussed.

Secondary Metabolites from Deep-Sea Derived Microorganisms

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (36) ◽  
pp. 6244-6273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunxiao Sun ◽  
Shah Mudassir ◽  
Zhenzhen Zhang ◽  
Yanyan Feng ◽  
Yimin Chang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Biological Activities ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Chemical Structures ◽  
Pharmaceutical Agents ◽  
Microbial Natural Products ◽  
Cytotoxic Function

Microorganisms obtained from the deep sea are a rich source of marine natural products with distinctive chemical structures and bioactivities. In this review, we will provide a retrospective of outstanding research within the scope of deep-sea (≥1000 m) microbial natural products, which has produced up to 442 compounds by the end of 2017. Approximetely, 60% of these structures have demonstrated various biological activities with more than 30% showing cytotoxic function. In this review, we particularly summarize those successful research on secondary metabolites produced by deep-sea derived microorganisms with inclusion of structural characteristics, biological activities, together with biogenetic origins and taxonomic features of the source microorganisms, from which, we expect to provide more comprehensive understanding of small molecules obtained from deep-sea environment and benefit the ongoing scholarly endeavors in the search for novel pharmaceutical agents from the deep-sea derived microorganisms.

scholarly journals Marine dissolved organic matter: a vast and unexplored molecular space

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa S. Catalá ◽  
Spencer Shorte ◽  
Thorsten Dittmar
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Chemical Fractionation ◽  
Chemical Complexity ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Molecular Mixtures

Abstract Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises a vast and unexplored molecular space. Most of it resided in the oceans for thousands of years. It is among the most diverse molecular mixtures known, consisting of millions of individual compounds. More than 1 Eg of this material exists on the planet. As such, it comprises a formidable source of natural products promising significant potential for new biotechnological purposes. Great emphasis has been placed on understanding the role of DOM in biogeochemical cycles and climate attenuation, its lifespan, interaction with microorganisms, as well as its molecular composition. Yet, probing DOM bioactivities is in its infancy, largely because it is technically challenging due to the chemical complexity of the material. It is of considerable interest to develop technologies capable to better discern DOM bioactivities. Modern screening technologies are opening new avenues allowing accelerated identification of bioactivities for small molecules from natural products. These methods diminish a priori the need for laborious chemical fractionation. We examine here the application of untargeted metabolomics and multiplexed high-throughput molecular-phenotypic screening techniques that are providing first insights on previously undetectable DOM bioactivities. Key points • Marine DOM is a vast, unexplored biotechnological resource. • Untargeted bioscreening approaches are emerging for natural product screening. • Perspectives for developing bioscreening platforms for marine DOM are discussed.

scholarly journals The Role of Secondary Metabolites Obtained from Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in Our Lives

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1071-1079
Author(s):  
Belgin Coşge Şenkal
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Aromatic Plants ◽  
Medicinal And Aromatic Plants ◽  
Flora Of Turkey ◽  
Synthetic Drugs ◽  
Natural Insecticides ◽  
Body Care

Medicinal plants, which are used as drugs to prevent diseases, maintain health or cure diseases, take place in areas such as nutrition, cosmetics, body care, incense or religious ceremonies, while aromatic plants are used in different industrial areas to give fragrance and taste are used. Flora of Turkey has a rich plant diversity. Secondary metabolites such as essential oils, alkaloids, glycosides, saponins etc. are the most basic products of the industry directly or indirectly. The vast majority of medicinal and aromatic plants rich in secondary metabolites exhibit strong biological activity (antioxidant, antibacterial, etc.). Therefore, these secondary metabolites are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The most common and practical use of secondary metabolites, which are also used as natural insecticides, is in the form of herbal tea. In recent years, the more side effects of synthetic origin substances, especially the resistance of organisms against synthetic drugs used as antimicrobials, have increased the importance of natural herbal resources and medicinal plants carrying these substances. Therefore, there is no doubt that the demand for secondary metabolites, which are natural products, will increase in the future. Flora of Turkey is an important source for natural products which will be developed newly.

Investigating the influence of aromatic moieties on the formulation of hydrophobic natural products and drugs in poly(2-oxazoline) based amphiphiles

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Luxenhofer ◽  
Michael M Lübtow ◽  
Lukas Hahn ◽  
Thomas Lorson ◽  
Rainer Schobert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Small Molecules ◽  
Water Solubility ◽  
Drug Loading ◽  
High Drug ◽  
Long Term Stability ◽  
Aromatic Content ◽  
Important Interaction ◽  
Amorphous Structures ◽  
High Drug Loading

Many natural compounds with interesting biomedical properties share one physicochemical property, namely a low water solubility. Polymer micelles are, among others, a popular means to solubilize hydrophobic compounds. The specific molecular interactions between the polymers and the hydrophobic drugs are diverse and recently it has been discussed that macromolecular engineering can be used to optimize drug loaded micelles. Specifically, π-π stacking between small molecules and polymers has been discussed as an important interaction that can be employed to increase drug loading and formulation stability. Here, we test this hypothesis using four different polymer amphiphiles with varying aromatic content and various natural products that also contain different relative amounts of aromatic moieties. While in the case of paclitaxel, having the lowest relative content of aromatic moieties, the drug loading decreases with increasing relative aromatic amount in the polymer, the drug loading of curcumin, having a much higher relative aromatic content, is increased. Interestingly, the loading using schizandrin A, a dibenzo[a,c]cyclooctadiene lignan with intermediate relative aromatic content is not influenced significantly by the aromatic content of the polymers employed. The very high drug loading, long term stability, the ability to form stable highly loaded binary coformulations in different drug combinations, small sized formulations and amorphous structures in all cases, corroborate earlier reports that poly(2-oxazoline) based micelles exhibit an extraordinarily high drug loading and are promising candidates for further biomedical applications. The presented results underline that the interaction between the polymers and the incorporated small molecules are complex and must be investigated in every specific case.<br>

Pharmacologic Role of Vitamin D Natural Products

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pablo Urena-Torres ◽  
Jean Souberbielle
Keyword(s):  
Vitamin D ◽  
Natural Products

scholarly journals Global biogeographic sampling of bacterial secondary metabolism

eLife ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Charlop-Powers ◽  
Jeremy G Owen ◽  
Boojala Vijay B Reddy ◽  
Melinda A Ternei ◽  
Denise O Guimarães ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Metabolites ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene ◽  
Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Natural Products Discovery

Recent bacterial (meta)genome sequencing efforts suggest the existence of an enormous untapped reservoir of natural-product-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters in the environment. Here we use the pyro-sequencing of PCR amplicons derived from both nonribosomal peptide adenylation domains and polyketide ketosynthase domains to compare biosynthetic diversity in soil microbiomes from around the globe. We see large differences in domain populations from all except the most proximal and biome-similar samples, suggesting that most microbiomes will encode largely distinct collections of bacterial secondary metabolites. Our data indicate a correlation between two factors, geographic distance and biome-type, and the biosynthetic diversity found in soil environments. By assigning reads to known gene clusters we identify hotspots of biomedically relevant biosynthetic diversity. These observations not only provide new insights into the natural world, they also provide a road map for guiding future natural products discovery efforts.

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