Genome Mining for Natural Product Biosynthesis

Genome Mining for Natural Product Biosynthesis

Genome sequencing has been democratized and transformed into a powerful tool that drives natural products discovery. By examining the genome of a specialized metabolite producer, we can get an idea of its capacity to produce new natural products. In this interactive two-hour workshop, participants will get hands-on experience in applying comprehensive bioinformatics analyses to investigate the biosynthetic potential of a newly-sequenced actinobacterial genome. Participants will learn to calculate the whole-genome phylogeny of the sequenced strain to give an idea of its taxonomic novelty. They will learn to generate and interpret the results of antiSMASH, a tool that identifies biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) from the genome sequence. Then, they will also learn to leverage several state-of-the-art tools to map these BGCs onto the global atlas of homologous BGC families, which may give a clue about the novelty of the encoded pathways. Finally, participants will be guided to apply the ARTS tool to predict self-resistance genes in each BGC, which serves as a first hint to the compound’s antimicrobial properties and mechanism-of-action.

Who Should Attend?

Students and postdocs attending the NP 2023 meeting.

What to bring?

Attendees are invited to bring their own laptops, pen and notepaper.