Alen Pšeničnik, Lucija Slemc, Martina Avbelj, Miha Tome, Martin Šala, Paul Herron, Maksym Shmatkov, Marko Petek, Špela Baebler, Peter Mrak, Daslav Hranueli, Antonio Starčević, Iain S Hunter, Hrvoje Petković
Most biosynthetic gene clusters (BGC) encoding the synthesis of important microbial secondary metabolites, such as antibiotics, are either silent or poorly expressed; therefore, to ensure a strong pipeline of novel antibiotics, there is a need to develop rapid and efficient strain development approaches. This study uses comparative genome analysis to instruct rational strain improvement, using Streptomyces rimosus , the producer of the important antibiotic oxytetracycline (OTC) as a model system. Sequencing of the genomes of two industrial strains M4018 and R6-500, developed independently from a common ancestor, identified large DNA rearrangements located at the chromosome end...
April 2, 2024: MSystems