title: Using non-enzymatic chemistry to influence microbial metabolism.
abstract: The structural manipulation of small molecule metabolites occurs in all organisms and plays a fundamental role in essentially all biological processes. Despite an increasing interest in developing new, non-enzymatic chemical reactions capable of functioning in the presence of living organisms, the ability of such transformations to interface with cellular metabolism and influence biological function is a comparatively underexplored area of research. This review will discuss efforts to combine non-enzymatic chemistry with microbial metabolism. We will highlight recent and historical uses of non-biological reactions to study microbial growth and function, the use of non-enzymatic transformations to rescue auxotrophic microorganisms, and the combination of engineered microbial metabolism and biocompatible chemical reactions for organic synthesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States.
authors.forename: Erica E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Schultz
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA 02138, United States. Electronic address: balskus@chemistry.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Emily P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Balskus
mesh_terms: D017753:Ecosystem; D008660:Metabolism / Q000187:drug effects*; D008829:Microbiology; D054852:Small Molecule Libraries / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D054852:Small Molecule Libraries