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Molecular Research on Actinomycetes-Derived Natural Products

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 June 2026 | Viewed by 788

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), 61 Biopolis Drive, Proteos #07-06, Singapore 138673, Singapore
Interests: actinomycetes; natural products; actinobacterial

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Natural products (NPs) comprise a wide variety of molecules that are vital sources of bioactive compounds, with established applications in therapeutics, food, and agriculture. Approximately 50% of non-biological drugs originate from natural products, including those derived from them or their mimics. Actinomycetes, a group of Gram-positive filamentous bacteria primarily represented by Streptomyces, have been particularly significant in the discovery of these natural products.

Unfortunately, the traditional methods for bioactivity-guided screening of bioactive NPs have yielded only a limited amount of progress since the conclusion of the golden age of exploration in the last century. However, the rise of omics science and new computational advancements have revitalized NP research, ushering in a promising era of discovery.

This Special Issue aims to address diverse intersections of actinomycetes and natural products, including, but not limited to, advances in discovery, engineering, and characterization.

Dr. Fong Tian Wong
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • actinomycetes
  • natural products
  • actinobacterial
  • genome mining
  • omics
  • secondary metabolites
  • genetic engineering
  • discovery
  • structural diversity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 2093 KB  
Article
Enhancing Secondary Metabolite Production in Actinobacteria Through Over-Expression of a Medium-Sized SARP Regulator
by Elena Heng, Lee Ling Tan, Yi Wee Lim, Winston Koh, Siew Bee Ng, Yee Hwee Lim, Dillon W. P. Tay and Fong Tian Wong
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(23), 11723; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262311723 - 3 Dec 2025
Viewed by 206
Abstract
Natural products hold immense therapeutic potential, yet they remain underexplored due to challenges in activating or producing them in laboratory settings. Here, we investigate the regulatory capabilities of a new medium-sized Streptomyces Antibiotic Regulator Protein (SARP), Fzm_SARP, in comparison to the well-characterized small [...] Read more.
Natural products hold immense therapeutic potential, yet they remain underexplored due to challenges in activating or producing them in laboratory settings. Here, we investigate the regulatory capabilities of a new medium-sized Streptomyces Antibiotic Regulator Protein (SARP), Fzm_SARP, in comparison to the well-characterized small SARP, RedD, across 18 diverse actinobacterial strains. In addition to the conserved DNA-binding domains typical of SARP regulators, the medium-sized Fzm_SARP also contains an additional NTPase domain. Our study revealed that 327 of the 422 metabolites (77%) detected in 18 wild-type actinobacterial strains were up-regulated in the SARP over-expressing strains. Among these 422 metabolites, 55% were up-regulated in the two SARP over-expressing strains whereas 15% and 7% were specifically up-regulated in the RedD and Fzm_SARP over-expressing strains, respectively. Interestingly, 244 metabolites not previously detected in the wild-type strains were detected in the two SARP over-expressing strains, resulting in a 58% increase from 422 to 666 metabolites. 36% of these new 244 metabolites were up-regulated in the two SARP over-expressing strains whereas 37% and 27% of these metabolites were specifically up-regulated in the RedD and Fzm_SARP over-expressing strains, respectively. These regulator-specific metabolites also give rise to distinct bioactivity profiles observed for each SARP. Overall, these findings expand our understanding of SARP family regulators and offer valuable insights for future research and applications in microbial biotechnology and secondary metabolite production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Molecular Research on Actinomycetes-Derived Natural Products)
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