Genetic engineering of nonconventional yeasts for the production of valuable compounds

Microbial Biotechnology ◽

10.1201/b17587-5 ◽

2014 ◽

pp. 63-112 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Andriy Sibirny ◽

Catherine Madzak ◽

Patrick Fickers

Keyword(s):

Genetic Engineering ◽

Valuable Compounds

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An Update on Molecular Tools for Genetic Engineering of Actinomycetes—The Source of Important Antibiotics and Other Valuable Compounds

Antibiotics ◽

10.3390/antibiotics9080494 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 494

Author(s):

Lena Mitousis ◽

Yvonne Thoma ◽

Ewa M. Musiol-Kroll

Keyword(s):

Genetic Engineering ◽

Genome Mining ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Molecular Tools ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Streptomyces Antibioticus ◽

The Past ◽

Bioactive Agents ◽

Valuable Compounds

The first antibiotic-producing actinomycete (Streptomyces antibioticus) was described by Waksman and Woodruff in 1940. This discovery initiated the “actinomycetes era”, in which several species were identified and demonstrated to be a great source of bioactive compounds. However, the remarkable group of microorganisms and their potential for the production of bioactive agents were only partially exploited. This is caused by the fact that the growth of many actinomycetes cannot be reproduced on artificial media at laboratory conditions. In addition, sequencing, genome mining and bioactivity screening disclosed that numerous biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), encoded in actinomycetes genomes are not expressed and thus, the respective potential products remain uncharacterized. Therefore, a lot of effort was put into the development of technologies that facilitate the access to actinomycetes genomes and activation of their biosynthetic pathways. In this review, we mainly focus on molecular tools and methods for genetic engineering of actinomycetes that have emerged in the field in the past five years (2015–2020). In addition, we highlight examples of successful application of the recently developed technologies in genetic engineering of actinomycetes for activation and/or improvement of the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites.

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