Genome mining and heterologous expression for the activation of silent gene clusters in Streptomyces species

Genome sequencing has revealed that actinomycetes have the potential to produce many more specialised metabolites than previously thought, and the advent of affordable Next Generation Sequencing promises a renaissance in natural product discovery.  However, many of the identified gene clusters are not expressed under standard laboratory conditions, but their expression can be activated by genetic manipulation of their natural hosts or by heterologous expression, generally in a genetically characterised streptomycete.  This presentation will describe the activation of two silent gene clusters that produce two quite distinct specialised metabolites, one of which is, to our knowledge, a completely novel compound.