Focus on natural products

In this issue - pv

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-v

Full Text - In this issue | PDF (380 KB) - In this issue

Focus on natural products

All natural - p351

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-351

Natural products research focuses on the chemical properties, biosynthesis and biological functions of secondary metabolites. As our scientific understanding of all things 'natural' is rapidly expanding, we should also make time to communicate the subtleties of chemical distinctions to the public.

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Rethinking relationships between natural products - p352

Stuart L Schreiber

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-352

Full Text - Rethinking relationships between natural products | PDF (361 KB) - Rethinking relationships between natural products

Focus on natural products

One pathway, many products - pp353 - 355

Michael A Fischbach & Jon Clardy

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-353

Biosynthetic pathways for secondary metabolites usually make many products, not just one. In this Commentary, we consider why molecular promiscuity might be an evolutionarily advantageous feature of these pathways.

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Focus on natural products

Plant endophytes as a platform for discovery-based undergraduate science education - pp356 - 359

Scott A Strobel & Gary A Strobel

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-356

Project ownership is an essential but sometimes overlooked ingredient for a successful undergraduate research experience. We have embarked on an experiment in undergraduate education that targets isolation of microbes from rainforest plants and characterization of natural products as objectives for discovery-based undergraduate research.

Full Text - Plant endophytes as a platform for discovery-based undergraduate science education | PDF (2,690 KB) - Plant endophytes as a platform for discovery-based undergraduate science education

Focus on natural products

Revisiting the ancient concept of botanical therapeutics - pp360 - 366

Barbara M Schmidt, David M Ribnicky, Peter E Lipsky & Ilya Raskin

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-360

Mixtures of interacting compounds produced by plants may provide important combination therapies that simultaneously affect multiple pharmacological targets and provide clinical efficacy beyond the reach of single compound–based drugs. Developing innovative scientific methods for discovery, validation, characterization and standardization of these multicomponent botanical therapeutics is essential to their acceptance into mainstream medicine.

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Focus on natural products

Natural products at the Hans Knöll Institute - p367

Catherine Goodman

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-367

Understanding the creation, induction and function of natural products that are important for microbial communication are central aims for scientists at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute.

Full Text - Natural products at the Hans Knöll Institute | PDF (344 KB) - Natural products at the Hans Knöll Institute

From eye of newt to chemical structure - pp368 - 369

Piali Sengupta & James H Thomas

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-368

Formation of the dauer diapause stage in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been the subject of intensive study over the past few decades. Recent work has established the chemical structure of three components of the secreted dauer pheromone mixture, thereby ushering in a new era in which the functions of the pheromones can be studied in detail.

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Calcium channels light up - pp369 - 370

Eric Green & Ricardo E Dolmetsch

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-369

The development of a technique for measuring calcium concentrations in nanodomains next to calcium channels provides new insights into calcium signaling.

Full Text - Calcium channels light up | PDF (904 KB) - Calcium channels light up

Methuselah antagonist extends life span - pp371 - 372

Deirdre McGarrigle & Xin-Yun Huang

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-371

Newly identified peptide antagonists of the GPCR Methuselah confirm the role of this receptor in aging and should prove useful as tools for investigating the physiological functions of this class of receptor.

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A LOVely view of blue light photosensing - pp372 - 374

Wen-Huang Ko, Abigail I Nash & Kevin H Gardner

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-372

A combination of structural and functional data provides insight into the mechanism used by the blue light photosensory protein Vivid to convert the light-driven formation of a protein-flavin bond into a conformational change in the surrounding protein.

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Cofactor-independent oxygenases go it alone - pp374 - 375

Susanne Fetzner

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-374

Oxygenases have long been thought to require a cofactor for catalysis. The structure of a vancomycin biosynthetic enzyme in complex with a substrate analog, and with molecular oxygen bound in its active site, supports the idea that cofactor-independent oxygenases act by mediating direct single-electron transfer from a substrate anion to dioxygen.

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Research Highlights - p377

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-377

Full Text - Research Highlights | PDF (379 KB) - Research Highlights

Focus on natural products

Mining and engineering natural-product biosynthetic pathways - pp379 - 386

Barrie Wilkinson & Jason Micklefield

doi:10.1038/nchembio.2007.7

Abstract - Mining and engineering natural-product biosynthetic pathways | Full Text - Mining and engineering natural-product biosynthetic pathways | PDF (1,329 KB) - Mining and engineering natural-product biosynthetic pathways

Focus on natural products

Production and engineering of terpenoids in plant cell culture - pp387 - 395

Susan C Roberts

doi:10.1038/nchembio.2007.8

Abstract - Production and engineering of terpenoids in plant cell culture | Full Text - Production and engineering of terpenoids in plant cell culture | PDF (12,820 KB) - Production and engineering of terpenoids in plant cell culture

Focus on natural products

Modern synthetic efforts toward biologically active terpenes - pp396 - 407

Thomas J Maimone & Phil S Baran

doi:10.1038/nchembio.2007.1

Abstract - Modern synthetic efforts toward biologically active terpenes | Full Text - Modern synthetic efforts toward biologically active terpenes | PDF (948 KB) - Modern synthetic efforts toward biologically active terpenes

Focus on natural products

The function of terpene natural products in the natural world - pp408 - 414

Jonathan Gershenzon & Natalia Dudareva

doi:10.1038/nchembio.2007.5

Abstract - The function of terpene natural products in the natural world | Full Text - The function of terpene natural products in the natural world | PDF (688 KB) - The function of terpene natural products in the natural world

Corrigendum: Histone deacetylase inhibitors reverse gene silencing in Friedreich's ataxia - p432

David Herman, Kai Jenssen, Ryan Burnett, Elisabetta Soragni, Susan L Perlman & Joel M Gottesfeld

doi:10.1038/nchembio0707-432

Full Text - Corrigendum: Histone deacetylase inhibitors reverse gene silencing in Friedreich's ataxia | PDF (319 KB) - Corrigendum: Histone deacetylase inhibitors reverse gene silencing in Friedreich's ataxia