Analyses of genomes and secondary metabolomes of Streptomyces spp. isolated from Leontopodium nivale ssp. alpinum Genome sequencing and assembly

In our lab, several Streptomyces spp. were isolated from the medicinal plant Leontopodium nivale ssp. alpinum, commonly known as Edelweiss. Bacteria of the genus Streptomyces are known to produce many secondary metabolites, but typically, only a few of them are produced under standard laboratory conditions because the biosynthesis gene clusters (BGCs) responsible for their production are not or are only poorly expressed.1 In this project, the genomes of 9 Streptomyces spp. from Edelweiss were sequenced. A total of 210 BGCs of which 42 are presumably unique, were identified by the bioinformatics tool antiSMASH 6.03.2 Genome mining approaches are being applied to these isolates to reveal their potential for bioactive secondary metabolite production.3 Extracts from the generated recombinant strains are being analyzed by HPLC and LC-MS to discover of novel natural products, including antibiotics against bacterial and fungal infections, as well as other diseases (e.g. cancer). Sequencing was performed at the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna under the project ID JMF-2104-14.