Figure 2.

Schematic representation of how to leverage a microbial strain collection for natural product discovery by two complementary approaches. A, structure-centric approach utilizes genomic information from the strain collection, along with bioinformatics, to prioritize privileged strains based on a unique pharmacophore or scaffold of the target natural products. B, function-centric approach utilizes biological activity, via HTS against targeted biology, to prioritize privileged strains based on unique targets or mechanism of action. Upon identification of these privileged strains, correlation of the targeted natural products or biology to specific BGCs and exploitation of these BGCs via enabling technology, such as cluster activation or heterologous expression, allow for the characterization of novel natural products, alternative producers of known natural products, and novel enzymes for combinatorial biosynthesis and biocatalysis.