Abstract
Two new elaiophylin derivatives, efomycins K (1) and L (2), and five known elaiophylin derivatives (3–7) were isolated from the termite-associated Streptomyces sp. M56. The structures were determined by 1D and 2D NMR and HR-ESIMS analyses and comparative CD spectroscopy. The putative gene cluster responsible for the production of the elaiophylin and efomycin derivatives was identified based on significant homology to related clusters. Phylogenetic analysis of gene cluster domains was used to provide a biosynthetic rational for these new derivatives and to demonstrate how a single biosynthetic pathway can produce diverse structures.
Highlights
Fungus-growing insects, which include several ant, beetle, and termites species (Beemelmanns et al, 2016), host diverse symbiotic organisms within their intestines and surroundings to protect the colony against predatory or pathogenic species (Engl and Kaltenpoth, 2018; Scherlach and Hertweck, 2018)
Recent developments in OMICs-based technologies have revolutionized the ways we identify microbial natural products that mediate the interactions between insects and microbes (Wilkinson and Micklefield, 2007; Kuhlisch and Pohnert, 2015; Shendure et al, 2017; Palazzotto and Weber, 2018)
The resulting crude extract was subjected to C18 solid phase (SP) extraction using a 10% step elution gradient from 20% MeOH/H2O to 100% MeOH
Summary
Fungus-growing insects, which include several ant, beetle, and termites species (Beemelmanns et al, 2016), host diverse symbiotic organisms within their intestines and surroundings to protect the colony against predatory or pathogenic species (Engl and Kaltenpoth, 2018; Scherlach and Hertweck, 2018). Our recent metabolomic and genomic studies on microbial symbionts of fungus-growing termites have led to identification of several new secondary metabolites (Kurtböke et al, 2015; Genilloud, 2017; Benndorf et al, 2018). These include new isoflavonoid glycosides (termisoflavones A-C) (Kang et al, 2016), 20-membered glycosylated and antifungal polyketide macrolactams (macrotermycins A-D) (Beemelmanns et al, 2017), the PKS-derived geldanamycin analog natalamycin A, all from the highly antifungal strain Streptomyces sp.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
