Freedom of expression: A synthetic route to metabolites

Microbial specialized metabolites play key roles in microbiome interactions, but their biosynthetic pathways are difficult to characterize. In this issue, Patel et al. (2022) describe new technologies for the computer-aided redesign of gene clusters to facilitate heterologous expression across diverse hosts and showcase their utility by identifying a new class of microbiome-derived nucleotide metabolites.

Automated summary

In this study, Patel et al. describe new technologies for the computer-aided redesign of gene clusters to study microbial-derived metabolites. Utilizing this approach, they identify a new class of nucleotide metabolites derived from the microbiome.