About this Research Topic
Actinomycetes are one of the most important sources for drug discoveries as they produce up to two-thirds of all known antibiotics. Nowadays, there is a wealth of expertise addressing especially biosynthetic aspects of antibiotic production in these organisms. Particularly since the advent of next-generation sequencing technologies, the field of antibiotic research has experienced a remarkable revival, which is due to the upcoming of a large amount of genome sequence information that gave rise to novel approaches in order to exploit actinomycetes for drug discovery. Despite the profit for antibiotic biosynthesis and drug discovery research, relatively limited benefit has been obtained for a better understanding of molecular principles of antibiotic biosynthesis regulation. However, regulation is important in many aspects of antibiotic research, as for example in order to optimize antibiotic production yields, to activate silent gene clusters to find novel antibiotics, or for genetic engineering purposes. Besides that, regulation is the interface connecting aspects of chemical differentiation with complex morphological differentiation events in actinomycetes.
Regulation of secondary metabolism in actinomycetes is a complex process depending on various factors, such as nutrient limitation, growth rate, oxygen supply or pH conditions. Regulation can occur on translational, as well as on transcriptional level. Concerning the latter one, regulatory signaling cascades can include global, as well as pathway-specific transcriptional regulators. Thereby, various chemical substances may serve as effectors for transcriptional regulators, such as quorum-sensing like γ-butyrolactone molecules, antibiotics, or antibiotic intermediates. Understanding the principles of regulation is crucial in order to optimize and manipulate antibiotic production processes.
In this Frontiers Research Topic we would like to create space for studies dealing with regulatory aspects of antibiotic production in actinomycetes. We will highlight the latest research findings in the field and cover a broad range of topics as there are:
• Investigations of regulatory networks
• Identification of signaling molecules
• Studies involving activation of silent gene clusters
• Studies addressing optimization of antibiotic yield increase
• Regulation of resistance mechanisms
• Significance of regulators in interspecies interactions between antibiotic producers
• New tools/approaches for the investigation of regulatory mechanisms
• Transcriptomic/proteomic studies
The Research Topic welcomes article types including original research, reviews, mini-reviews and methods.
Regulation of secondary metabolism in actinomycetes is a complex process depending on various factors, such as nutrient limitation, growth rate, oxygen supply or pH conditions. Regulation can occur on translational, as well as on transcriptional level. Concerning the latter one, regulatory signaling cascades can include global, as well as pathway-specific transcriptional regulators. Thereby, various chemical substances may serve as effectors for transcriptional regulators, such as quorum-sensing like γ-butyrolactone molecules, antibiotics, or antibiotic intermediates. Understanding the principles of regulation is crucial in order to optimize and manipulate antibiotic production processes.
In this Frontiers Research Topic we would like to create space for studies dealing with regulatory aspects of antibiotic production in actinomycetes. We will highlight the latest research findings in the field and cover a broad range of topics as there are:
• Investigations of regulatory networks
• Identification of signaling molecules
• Studies involving activation of silent gene clusters
• Studies addressing optimization of antibiotic yield increase
• Regulation of resistance mechanisms
• Significance of regulators in interspecies interactions between antibiotic producers
• New tools/approaches for the investigation of regulatory mechanisms
• Transcriptomic/proteomic studies
The Research Topic welcomes article types including original research, reviews, mini-reviews and methods.
Keywords: regulation, signaling, actinomycete, antibiotic, secondary metabolism
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
