Secondary Metabolite Formation by the Filamentous Fungus Penicillium chrysogenum in the Post-genomic Era
Marta M. Samol, Oleksandr Salo, Peter Lankhorst, Roel A.L. Bovenberg and Arnold J.M. Driessen
from: Aspergillus and Penicillium in the Post-genomic Era (Edited by: Ronald P. de Vries, Isabelle Benoit Gelber and Mikael Rørdam Andersen). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2016) Pages: 145-172.
Abstract
The filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum is a major industrial producer of the β-lactam antibiotic penicillin. Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928, and was among the first medications to be effective against bacterial infections. Penicillins are still widely used today but are now produced by high β-lactam yielding strains that emerged from extensive classical strain improvement programs lasting for several decades. In 2008, the genome of P. chrysogenum was sequenced revealing an unexploited reservoir of nonribosomal peptide synthetases and polyketide synthases genes that specify potential bioactive compounds. In recent years, several pathways have been resolved that are responsible for the production of a wide variety of secondary metabolites read more ...
