Biosynthesis and molecular regulation of secondary metabolites in microorganisms

摘要

Antibiotics are most important compounds in microbial secondarymetabolites. As we know, streptomycetes are a particularlyabundant source of antibiotics and related compounds,providing more than half of medically important antimicrobialand antitumor agents. Various environmental and physiologicalconditions influence the onset and level of antibioticproduction. Because of improper use and abuse of antibioticsas well as the horizontal transfer of antibiotic resistance genesbetween bacteria by conjugation, transduction or transformation,these have led to the appearance of antibiotic resistanceand the loss of antibiotic native efficiency. Therefore, it isnecessary to find new antibiotics and to study their clinicalapplication. Here we present a comprehensive review includingstrategies for discovery of novel antibiotics, novel mechanismof biosynthesis and regulation of antibiotics, and improvementof industrial antibiotics-producers. In this issue,eight articles contributed by Linquan Bai, Yihua Chen, KeqiangFan, Gang Liu, Yinhua Lu and Huarong Tan primarilyconcern biosynthesis and molecular regulation of importantantibiotics.