November 15, 2023 12:20 pm
November 15, 2023 1:10 pm
Genome Mining for New Natural Products and New Chemistry
Wilfred van der Donk
Richard E. Heckert Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The genome sequencing efforts of the past 20 years have revealed that ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) constitute a large class of peptide natural products. These molecules are produced in all three domains of life, their biosynthetic genes are ubiquitous in the currently sequenced genomes, and their structural diversity is vast. Furthermore, they are increasingly recognized for their involvement in fighting or causing human disease. This presentation will discuss the use of genome mining and synthetic biology for the discovery of new RiPPs that has proven to be an excellent platform to discover unusual chemistry involved in their biosynthesis.