Antifungal Compound Discovery from Metagenomes

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): There is societal need for new compounds in our arsenal of defenses against fungal pathogens, many of which are increasingly resistant to existing therapeutics. The best possible source for new antifungal compounds withpotentially novel mechanisms of action is within natural environments, particularly soils, which have the greatest diversity of microbial life. This research proposal advances the science of metagenomics, the cloning of DNA from entire microbial communities, to discover novel antibiotics and identify the best lead candidates for clinical development. Scientists at Lucigen Corporation, Auburn University, and the University of Mississippi's National Center for Natural Product Research have combined four keytechnological breakthroughs that result in an improved paradigm for screening metagenomic libraries for small molecules. The improvements in soil metagenomic library screening include: 1) an improved methodology for the isolation and purification of h