Molecular biology of non-ribosomal peptide (nrp) and polyketide (pk) biosynthesis in cyanobacteria

Abstract

Secondary metabolites produced by cyanobacteria are numerous and structurally diverse, with a focus on non-ribosomal peptide and polyketide structures. These compounds could have a variety of bioactivities, and some of them could be valuable in the creation of commercial medications or as biochemical research tools. Natural product gene clusters can be identified and characterized via genome mining. This has allowed for the clustering of biosynthetic genes encoding diverse substances, including non-ribosomal peptides (NRPs), polyketides (PKs), and hybrids thereof, which span a wide range of bioactive metabolites of human significance. Various bioinformatics techniques have only just been created to anticipate the outcomes of orphan gene clusters, although the cyanobacterial pathways are complex in some cases, making prediction difficult. However, this backdrop can be avoided through the heterologous expression and/or mass spectrometry. Several cyanobacterial genomes have been found to contain peptide synthetase and polyketide synthase genes, according to recent research. This information could be extremely useful in future screening initiatives aiming at detecting new bioactive chemicals. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.