Natural product discovery gives us access to organic molecules of medical and agrochemical use from organisms such as bacteria, fungi and plants. Innovative methods to discover novel bacterial natural products can reveal previously overlooked chemical diversity. One such method is genome mining, where sequenced bacterial genomes are assessed for the presence of biosynthetic gene clusters. Following genome mining, organic molecules can be accessed by growing the bacteria in order to isolate and complete the structure elucidation of novel natural products. There is particular interest in piperazic acid(Piz)-containing natural products as they are often associated with biological activity and structural novelty. Four Piz-containing natural products were isolated from Streptomyces incarnatus NRRL 8089 in very minor quantities utilizing a novel 15N NMR-genome mining hybrid approach. Despite the isolation of these diverse compounds predicted to arise from the same gene cluster, analysis predicts the presence of additional natural products. Current efforts are exploring methods to elicit the expression of further organic compounds from S. incarnatus NRRL 8089, along with semi-synthetic avenues of producing the bioinformatically predicted molecules. 

The Natural Resources & Environmental Studies Institute (NRESi) at UNBC hosts a weekly lecture series at the Prince George campus. Anyone from the university or wider community with interest in the topic area is welcome to attend. Go to http://www.unbc.ca/nres-institute/colloquium-webcasts to view the presentation remotely.

Past NRESi colloquium presentations and special lectures can be viewed on our video archive, available here.

Please Note: NRESi colloquium presentations this semester will be available to attend both in-person as well as online. However, those wishing to attend in-person must wear a mask as per Provincial Health Officer (PHO) orders and University policy. Thank you for your understanding.