Genome Mining and Comparative Analysis of Silent Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Rare Environmental Microorganisms for Novel Antimicrobial Metabolite Discovery
Keywords:
Genome mining, silent biosynthetic gene clusters, rare environmental microorganisms, comparative genomics, antimicrobial metabolites, natural product discovery, secondary metabolismAbstract
Rare environmental microorganisms possess significant unexplored potential for producing novel antimicrobial metabolites. This study comparatively analyzed four microorganisms using genome mining, biosynthetic gene cluster classification, metabolite profiling, and antimicrobial screening. A total of 87 biosynthetic gene clusters were identified, including NRPS, PKS, hybrid, RiPP, terpene, and siderophore clusters, of which 24 were considered potentially novel. Several clusters were silent or poorly expressed under standard cultivation conditions. Microorganism C demonstrated the greatest biosynthetic diversity, metabolite richness, and antimicrobial potential. The findings highlighted the value of integrating genomic and experimental analyses to prioritize promising biosynthetic pathways. Further studies involving pathway activation, heterologous expression, compound isolation, structural characterization, and biological evaluation are required to confirm their therapeutic potential.
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