Carbene chemistry built into microbe’s metabolism in first for biosynthesis
Proof-of-concept work opens pathway to bacteria engineered to synthesise new-to-nature products
A reaction common to synthetic organic chemistry has been fully integrated into a microbe, expanding the scope of organic products that could be biosynthesised. The proof-of-concept work, which incorporated carbene-transfer reactions into the metabolism of a strain of Streptomyces bacterium, demonstrates the possibility of a scalable microbial platform for biosynthesising natural and new-to-nature products.
Biosynthesis offers an environmentally friendly and sustainable way to make many natural, as well as new-to-nature products. But many reactions that are available to organic chemists – including carbene-transfer reactions – are not naturally performed by organisms.