Mining for a New Class of Fungal Natural Products: The Evolution, Diversity, and Distribution of Isocyanide Synthase Biosynthetic Gene Clusters.

ABSTRACT: The products of non-canonical isocyanide synthase (ICS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) have notable bioactivities that mediate pathogenesis, microbial competition, and metal-homeostasis through metal-associated chemistry. We sought to enable research into this class of compounds by characterizing the biosynthetic potential and evolutionary history of these BGCs across the Fungal Kingdom. We developed the first genome-mining pipeline to identify ICS BGCs, locating 3,800 ICS BGCs in 3,300 genomes. Genes in these clusters share promoter motifs and are maintained in contiguous groupings by natural selection. ICS BGCs are not evenly distributed across fungi, with evidence of gene-family expansions in several Ascomycete families. We show that the ICS dit1 / 2 gene cluster family

SUBMITTER: Nickles GR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10153163 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature