Abstract

Most of the biologically active microbial natural products and their analogs bear a complex molecular architecture. The semisynthetic modifications and stereospecific diversity- oriented synthesis of these native natural products to generate analogs are difficult and time-consuming. Mutasynthesis is a powerful tool that utilizes the microorganism's genetic and metabolic engineering skills to produce derivatives of complex natural products of microbial origin. Mutasynthesis is based on the cellular uptake of chemically modified intermediates from the culture media and their addition to the secondary metabolism by mutant microorganisms. This review will describe the importance of mutasynthesis in the generation of complex microbial secondary metabolites. We have covered a literature search on mutasynthesis over the last ten years (2011-2020) in this review.

Keywords: Mutasynthesis, precursor directed biosynthesis, gene, biosynthesis, combinatorial, secondary metabolites.

Graphical Abstract