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Leveraging ecological theory to guide natural product discovery

  • Natural Products
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

Technological improvements have accelerated natural product (NP) discovery and engineering to the point that systematic genome mining for new molecules is on the horizon. NP biosynthetic potential is not equally distributed across organisms, environments, or microbial life histories, but instead is enriched in a number of prolific clades. Also, NPs are not equally abundant in nature; some are quite common and others markedly rare. Armed with this knowledge, random ‘fishing expeditions’ for new NPs are increasingly harder to justify. Understanding the ecological and evolutionary pressures that drive the non-uniform distribution of NP biosynthesis provides a rational framework for the targeted isolation of strains enriched in new NP potential. Additionally, ecological theory leads to testable hypotheses regarding the roles of NPs in shaping ecosystems. Here we review several recent strain prioritization practices and discuss the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings for each. Finally, we offer perspectives on leveraging microbial ecology and evolutionary biology for future NP discovery.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement No. 2011-67019-30330 and the University of Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station Project (#MIN 22-018). Resources from the University of Minnesota Supercomputing Institute are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Michael J. Smanski

  2. BioTechnology Institute, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Michael J. Smanski & Linda L. Kinkel

  3. Department of Plant Pathology, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Saint Paul, MN, 55108, USA

    Daniel C. Schlatter & Linda L. Kinkel

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  1. Michael J. Smanski
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  2. Daniel C. Schlatter
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  3. Linda L. Kinkel
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Correspondence to Linda L. Kinkel.

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Special Issue: Natural Product Discovery and Development in the Genomic Era. Dedicated to Professor Satoshi Ōmura for his numerous contributions to the field of natural products.

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Smanski, M.J., Schlatter, D.C. & Kinkel, L.L. Leveraging ecological theory to guide natural product discovery. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 43, 115–128 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-015-1683-9

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