Biosynthesis of Natural Products in Lichen Fungi
A special issue of Journal of Fungi (ISSN 2309-608X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 92
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Research on the natural products produced by lichen fungi has undergone a resurgence in the past decade. This new interest in lichen fungi is a result of advances in both genome sequencing, analytical instrumentation and online tools that have enabled the linking of ‘genes-to-molecules’ in lichen fungi. Next-generation DNA sequencing methods and new tools for genome assembly have generated a wealth of new genome sequences from a diverse array of species of lichen-forming fungi. Genome annotation tools such as the fungal version of antiSMASH allow for the identification of biosynthetic gene clusters (BCG) in lichen fungi. Complimentary to this, new developments in the sensitivity and resolution of liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) techniques have enabled the characterization of secondary metabolites present in crude extracts. Online resources for mass spec characterization, such as Global Natural Product Social Molecular Networking (GNPS) allow for rapid dereplication and the identification of signals that indicate the presence of novel chemical structures. More recently, heterologous expression of genes, from biosynthetic gene clusters, either individually or in groups in fungal or bacterial hosts, has expanded our knowledge of the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in lichen fungi.
This Special Issue will showcase contributions from each of these areas of research, describing, in turn, the forefront of knowledge of natural product biosynthesis in lichen fungi. The full biosynthetic potential of the novel chemical structures produced by lichen fungi has yet to be fully realized. However, advances in sequencing, annotation, and chemical characterization will enable the discovery of new bioactive natural products produced by lichen fungi. This Special Issue will serve as a helpful reference for the community of researchers with an interest in lichen natural products and serve as a roadmap for future discoveries.
Dr. John Sorensen
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- lichen fungi
- biosynthesis
- natural products
- genome sequencing
- dereplication
- heterologous expression
- new chemical entity
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