MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration.

Specialized or secondary metabolites are small molecules of biological origin, often showing potent biological activities with applications in agriculture, engineering and medicine. Usually, the biosynthesis of these natural products is governed by sets of co-regulated and physically clustered genes known as biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). To share information about BGCs in a standardized and machine-readable way, the Minimum Information about a Biosynthetic Gene cluster (MIBiG) data standard and repository was initiated in 2015.

Total Synthesis and Structural Reassignment of the Molt-Inhibiting Marine Alkaloid Erebusinone.

The marine alkaloid erebusinone is a secondary metabolite isolated from the Antarctic sponge . Initial biological assays have shown that erebusinone increases amphipod mortality, probably by inhibition of the biosynthesis of molting hormone (ecdysone). Herein, we report the first total synthesis of the proposed structure of erebusinone and a structural revision.

Ether-Diol Ambiguity: An Inconspicuous Issue in the Structure Elucidation of Oxygenated Natural Products.

Tertiary and allylic hydroxyl groups readily eliminate water during positive ion mode mass spectrometry and may show similar NMR spectra to their corresponding ethers. In a routine structure elucidation workflow, these factors can cause researchers to incorrectly assign diol moieties as ethers or vice versa, leading to inaccurate chemical structures. After facing this problem during our work on oxygenated sesquiterpenoids from a sp.