Exploring and expanding the natural chemical space of bacterial diterpenes

Xiuting Wei, Wenbo Ning, Caitlin A. McCadden, Tyler A. Alsup, Zining Li, Diana P. Łomowska-Keehner, Jordan Nafie, Tracy Qu, Melvin Osei Opoku, Glen R. Gillia, Baofu Xu, Daniel G. Icenhour and Jeffrey D. Rudolf ()
Additional contact information
Xiuting Wei: University of Florida
Wenbo Ning: University of Florida
Caitlin A. McCadden: University of Florida
Tyler A. Alsup: University of Florida
Zining Li: University of Florida
Diana P. Łomowska-Keehner: University of Florida
Jordan Nafie: Biotools, Inc.
Tracy Qu: University of Florida
Melvin Osei Opoku: University of Florida
Glen R. Gillia: University of Florida
Baofu Xu: University of Florida
Daniel G. Icenhour: University of Florida
Jeffrey D. Rudolf: University of Florida

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract Terpenoids are the largest family of natural products but relatively rare in bacteria. Genome mining reveals widespread prevalence of terpene synthases, the enzymes responsible for constructing the hydrocarbon skeletons, in bacteria. Here, we show that 125 (37%) of 334 terpene synthases from 8 phyla, 17 classes, and 83 genera of bacteria are active as diterpene synthases. Isolation and structural elucidation of 28 diterpenes from 31 terpene synthases reveal three previously unreported terpene skeletons, skeletons of natural products from other organisms with unknown biosynthetic pathways, diterpenes that are known in other organisms but to the best of our knowledge not previously seen in bacteria, or new structural and stereochemical isomers of diterpenes. We also identify type I diterpene synthases from myxobacteria and cyanobacteria. This study will help to discover new natural products, advance studies in terpenoid biosynthesis and enzymology, and provide model systems to probe the ecological roles of terpenes.

Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-57145-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-57145-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57145-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().