Biosynthetic study of cyclodepsipeptides and generation of structural diversity in Penicillium brasilianum by mutational biosynthesis

• Grant number: 23/01956-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Organic Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Taicia Pacheco Fill
• Grantee: Marina Ferreira Maximo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/08254-6 - Biosynthesis of "non-natural" Penicillium brasilianum cyclodepsipetides: a biosynthetic engineering approach, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The 20th century saw a large number of discoveries of bioactive microbial natural products that revolutionized medicine. For years, it was believed that this source had been fully exploited, as the number of discoveries of new molecules began to slow. However, advances in gene sequencing techniques and bioinformatics indicate that the biosynthetic potential of known microorganisms is still largely untapped, and there are many cryptic gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites in fungi that are not expressed in vitro and have not yet been characterized. This shows the importance of techniques that help unravel the secondary metabolism of fungi and contribute to the discovery of novel molecules. This work proposes an approach that combines genomic and metabolomic sciences for the generation of structural diversity of natural products from the endophytic fungus Penicillium brasilianum LaBioMMi-136. We intend to generate a mutant of the fungus to study the biosynthesis of cyclodepsipeptides produced by the microorganism and to generate structural diversity of microbial natural products through mutational biosynthesis.