Small World Initiative

We previously designed a strategy for the Small World Initiative utilizing transposon mutagenesis as a means to identify bacterial genes whose products are involved in antagonistic activity against the growth of pathogens. Using this molecular approach, we identified and characterized mutants that display a loss of inhibition from the wildtype strains SWI6WT, SWI36WT, and SWI44WT. The genomes of these wildtype isolates were sequenced and used to identify biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) predicted to encode secondary metabolites involved in antagonistic activities.