title: A brief tour of myxobacterial secondary metabolism.
abstract: Myxobacteria are soil-dwelling, Gram-negative bacteria which are notable not only for their multi-cellular 'social' lifestyles, but for production of structurally diverse secondary metabolites with potential in clinical therapy. Here we briefly review the history of myxobacterial natural products research, provide an overview of their unique secondary metabolism, with an emphasis on assembly line biosynthesis of polyketide and non-ribosomal peptide metabolites, and look to the future of the field.
authors.affiliation: Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Saarland University, PO Box 151150, 66041 Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Kira J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Weissman
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Müller
mesh_terms: D004798:Enzymes / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D009231:Myxococcales / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes