BACKGROUND Chondramides are cyclodepsipeptides produced by strains of the myxobacterium, Chondromyces crocatus. These peptides, which have been reported to inhibit yeast and mammalian cell proliferation, are related to jasplakinolide, which has been isolated from marine sponges of the genus Jaspis and has been shown to interfere with the actin cytoskeleton (a structural component of cells that ...

The epothilones (Epos) are a group of natural products isolated from the myxobacterium, Sorangium cellulosum. They have a mechanism of action similar to that of Taxol, i.e., they stabilize microtubules and induce the formation of microtubule bundles in cells. Because they are simpler in structure than Taxol and preserve their activity in P-glycoprotein-expressing cells, they are being studied a...

The epothilones (Epos) are a group of natural products isolated from the myxobacterium, Sorangium cellulosum. They have a mechanism of action similar to that of Taxol, i.e., they stabilize microtubules and induce the formation of microtubule bundles in cells. Because they are simpler in structure than Taxol and preserve their activity in P-glycoprotein-expressing cells, they are being studied a...

Myxobacteria of marine origin are rare and hard-to-culture microorganisms, but they genetically harbor high potential to produce novel antibiotics. An extensive investigation on the secondary metabolome of the unique marine myxobacterium Haliangium ochraceum SMP-2 led to the isolation of a new polyketide-nonribosomal peptide hybrid product, haliamide (1). Its structure was elucidated by spectro...

M any types of free-living bacteria communicate with one another by chemical signals, thereby coordinating metabolic activities and developmental processes. For instance, starved cells of the myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus release the A signal, a mixture of six amino acids, to promote aggregation, the first step in the development of a fruiting body. Escherichia coli cells coordinate their mo...

A bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library was constructed to isolate the biosynthetic gene cluster for the polyketide/peptide hybrid-type antibiotic cystothiazole A from the myxobacterium Cystobacter fuscus strain AJ-13278. Sequence analysis of a 63.9 kb contiguous region that encompasses the biosynthetic gene cluster (cta) led to the identification of a polyketide synthase (PKS)/nonribos...

Interaction of the predatory myxobacterium Myxococcus xanthus with the non-motile, antibiotic producer Streptomyces coelicolor was examined using a variety of experimental approaches. Myxococcus xanthus cells prey on S. coelicolor, forming streams of ordered cells that lyse the S. coelicolor hyphae in the contact area between the two colonies. The interaction increases actinorhodin production b...

Despite their fastidious nature, marine myxobacteria have considerable genetic potential to produce novel secondary metabolites. The marine myxobacterium Haliangium ochraceum SMP-2 produces the antifungal polyketide haliangicin (1), but its productivity is unsatisfactory. The biosynthetic gene cluster hli (47.8 kbp) associated with 1 was identified and heterologously expressed in Myxococcus xan...