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Molecules
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Combining Synthesis and Biosynthesis to Access Complex Molecules
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Combining Synthesis and Biosynthesis to Access Complex Molecules

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Organic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 January 2020) | Viewed by 3994

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Christopher N. Boddy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Dr. Graham Heberlig

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The construction of complex molecules has always benefited greatly from the field of biosynthesis. This can be clearly seen in the inspired biomimetic syntheses of complex molecules like tropinone, the daphnyphilum alkaloids, and the endiandric acids, and more recently in studies where enzymes from biosynthesis have been used to construct complex molecules such as the vancomycin aglycone core structure. The complementarity between modern synthetic chemistry and enzyme catalyzed reactions make the pairing of the two highly powerful. As natural product biosynthesis is providing researchers with an expanded biocatalyst toolbox and protein engineering is significantly improving the properties and function of these biocatalysts, many of the key hurdles to robust chemo-enzymatic pathways are being overcome. This Special Issue of Molecules is designed to capture the highly interdisciplinary interplay between synthesis and biosynthesis in accessing complex molecules. 

We welcome original articles as well as reviews of recent studies combining synthesis and biosynthesis, particularly focusing on chemo-enzymatic synthesis but also including enabling studies such as biomimetic total synthesis, new biocatalyst discovery, and in vitro biosynthesis.

Prof. Christopher N. Boddy
Dr. Graham Heberlig
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biosynthesis
  • Chemoenzymatic
  • Biocatalysis
  • Tandem-catalysis
  • Precursor directed biosynthesis
  • Mutasynthesis
  • Biomimetic synthesis
  • Natural products
  • Polyketides
  • Non-ribosomal peptides
  • Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides
  • Terpenoids
  • Alkaloids
  • Carbohydrates

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

18 pages, 2019 KiB  
Review
Linking Genes to Molecules in Eukaryotic Sources: An Endeavor to Expand Our Biosynthetic Repertoire
by Jack G. Ganley and Emily R. Derbyshire
Molecules 2020, 25(3), 625; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25030625 - 31 Jan 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3774
Abstract
The discovery of natural products continues to interest chemists and biologists for their utility in medicine as well as facilitating our understanding of signaling, pathogenesis, and evolution. Despite an attenuation in the discovery rate of new molecules, the current genomics and transcriptomics revolution [...] Read more.
The discovery of natural products continues to interest chemists and biologists for their utility in medicine as well as facilitating our understanding of signaling, pathogenesis, and evolution. Despite an attenuation in the discovery rate of new molecules, the current genomics and transcriptomics revolution has illuminated the untapped biosynthetic potential of many diverse organisms. Today, natural product discovery can be driven by biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) analysis, which is capable of predicting enzymes that catalyze novel reactions and organisms that synthesize new chemical structures. This approach has been particularly effective in mining bacterial and fungal genomes where it has facilitated the discovery of new molecules, increased the understanding of metabolite assembly, and in some instances uncovered enzymes with intriguing synthetic utility. While relatively less is known about the biosynthetic potential of non-fungal eukaryotes, there is compelling evidence to suggest many encode biosynthetic enzymes that produce molecules with unique bioactivities. In this review, we highlight how the advances in genomics and transcriptomics have aided natural product discovery in sources from eukaryotic lineages. We summarize work that has successfully connected genes to previously identified molecules and how advancing these techniques can lead to genetics-guided discovery of novel chemical structures and reactions distributed throughout the tree of life. Ultimately, we discuss the advantage of increasing the known biosynthetic space to ease access to complex natural and non-natural small molecules. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Combining Synthesis and Biosynthesis to Access Complex Molecules)
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