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. 2015 Jun 30;6:672. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00672

Table 2.

Some novel bioactives and biosynthetic pathways of industrial interest discovered through functional metagenomics.

Bioactive /Pathway Closest known homolog Method/Host Environment References
Pederin >80% identity to sequences from P. aeruginosa. The discovered ped gene cluster is believed to be from a symbiont of the Paederus beetle from the genus Pseudomonas Targeted sequencing-based strategy Paederus beetles Piel, 2002
Biotin Highest identity to proteins from Erwinia herbicola. Significant identity also shown to proteins from E. coli and Pseudomonas putida Selelction-based screening of enriched cosmid library in E. coli biotin auxotrophic strain Horse excrement Entcheva et al., 2001
Known siderophore: vibrioferrin 98% identity to proteins from Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Vibrio alginolyticus Function-based screening of E. coli plasmid library Tidal-flat sediment, Ariake Sea Fujita et al., 2011
Polyketide synthase (PKS) gene 55–59% identity to hypothetical PKS from Mycobacterium avium (NP_961164) Targeted sequencing-based strategy Marine sponge Discodermia dissoluta, Netherlands Antilles Schirmer et al., 2005
Novel serine protease inhibitor (serpin) gene Moderate identities to serpins from Salinibacter ruber M8 and Spirosoma linguale DSM 74. Similarities with possible partial serpins from Dyadobacter fermentans DSM 18053, Arthrospira maxima CS-328 and Cyanothece sp. PCC 7822 Sequence-based screening of E. coli plasmid library. Uncultured marine organisms Jiang et al., 2011
Borregomycin A and B encoded by bor pathway (antiproliferative and antibiotic properties) ORFs showing 32–86% identity to species from the following genera: Micromonospora, Streptomyces, Actinoplanes, Corallococcus, Cellulomonas, Actinomadura, Salinispora, Microlunatus, Modestobacter, Frankia, Saccharomonospora, Nocardia, Phaeosphaeria Homology guided screening Soil, Anza-Borrego Desert (CA) Chang and Brady, 2013
Hypothetical protein with NF-kB pathway stimulatory activity 42% of predicted genes coverage to B. vulgatus ATCC 8482 Activity-based screening using a reporter cell line of an E. coli fosmid library Human gut microbiota of Crohn's Disease patients Lakhdari et al., 2010
Novel prebiotic degradation pathways (11 contigs) Sequence homology to species of Bifidobacterium, Eubacterium, Streptococcus, Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium Hydrolytic activity-based selective screening of two E. coli fosmid libraries Human ileum mucosa and fecal microbiota samples Cecchini et al., 2013
Five novel putative salt tolerance genes Identity to hypothetical proteins from genus Collinsella, Eggerthella, and Akkermansia Function-based screening of E. coli plasmid library Human gut microbiota Culligan et al., 2012
Novel salt tolerance gene Not homologous to any sequence at time of study, highest BLAST score to hypothetical protein from Caulobacter crescentus Function-based screening of E. coli plasmid library Faecal sample, healthy 26 year old Caucasian male Culligan et al., 2013
15 acid resistance genes 37–90% identity to proteins and hypothetical proteins from the following genera: Thermosinus, Streptomyces, Candidatus, Hyphomicrobium, Methylococcus, Acidithiobacillus, Thioalkalivibrio, Nitrosococcus, Halorhodospira, Haliangium, Clostridium, Roseomonas, Acidiphilium, Gemmata, Terriglobus, Burkholderia Function-based screening of six E. coli plasmid libraries. Followed by expression in Pseudomonas putida and Bacillus subtilis Planktonic and rhizosphere microbial communities of the Tinto River. Five libraries from Erica andevalensis, one from headwaters of Tinto River Guazzaroni et al., 2013