Autonomous assembly of synthetic oligonucleotides built from an expanded DNA alphabet. Total synthesis of a gene encoding kanamycin resistance

• Kristen K. Merritt,
• Kevin M. Bradley,
• Daniel Hutter,
• Mariko F. Matsuura,
• Diane J. Rowold and
• Steven A. Benner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 2348–2360, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.245

• information density of DNA, allow larger numbers of DNA fragments to autonomously self-assemble into large DNA constructs. This technology can therefore increase the size of DNA constructs that might be used in synthetic biology. Keywords: automated gene synthesis; artificially expanded genetic information

• systems; solid-phase DNA synthesis; synthetic biology; Introduction It has been nearly 50 years since the first solid-phase synthesis of DNA by Letsinger and Mahadevan [1][2]. This work laid the platform for new strategies in oligonucleotide synthesis, culminating in the development of phosphoramidite

• vision, now called “synthetic biology” [13][14][15][16][17], of converting automatically synthesized short DNA molecules (50–100 nucleotides in length) into much longer DNA constructs by autonomous self-assembly, without the cost of manual convergent assembly. In addition to the DARPA Foundries “1,000

OligArch: A software tool to allow artificially expanded genetic information systems (AEGIS) to guide the autonomous self-assembly of long DNA constructs from multiple DNA single strands

• Kevin M. Bradley and
• Steven A. Benner

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 1826–1833, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.192

• development of "synthetic biology“ as a modern field over the past 30 years [1][2][3][4][5]. While oligonucleotides can be reliably prepared by automated synthesis up to ca. 100 nucleotides in length and (even today) are most often used as primers, many seek to create large DNA (L-DNA) constructs by assembly

• stranded DNA fragments “be limited to perhaps a dozen fragments at a time”. Fortunately, another development of synthetic biology offers an approach to mitigate these limitations of natural DNA as a matrix for autonomous self-assembly. This exploits a "second-generation" version of an artificially expanded

Intermediates in monensin biosynthesis: A late step in biosynthesis of the polyether ionophore monensin is crucial for the integrity of cation binding

• Wolfgang Hüttel,
• Jonathan B. Spencer and
• Peter F. Leadlay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2014, 10, 361–368, doi:10.3762/bjoc.10.34

• tailoring step as well as polyether formation. Keywords: antibiotics; biosynthesis; natural products; polyketides; Streptomyces; synthetic biology; Introduction Monensin A (1) from Streptomyces cinnamonensis is one of the most prominent and best-studied of the polyether class of complex polyketides, an

The regulation and biosynthesis of antimycins

• Ryan F. Seipke and
• Matthew I. Hutchings

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2013, 9, 2556–2563, doi:10.3762/bjoc.9.290

• machinery suggest it is possible to use synthetic biology to bioengineer non-natural analogues in large enough quantity to test their efficacies in the clinic. In line with that view, generating a chemistry-dereplicated culture collection of antimycin-type depsipeptide producers to build a library of

Natural product biosyntheses in cyanobacteria: A treasure trove of unique enzymes

• Jan-Christoph Kehr,
• Douglas Gatte Picchi and
• Elke Dittmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 1622–1635, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.191

• obtained from the biochemical studies of cyanobacterial pathways can inspire the development of concepts for the design of bioactive compounds by synthetic-biology approaches in the future. Keywords: cyanobacteria; natural products; NRPS; PKS; ribosomal peptides; Introduction The role of cyanobacteria in

• , including many that are not or only rarely seen in other microorganisms. The potential of cyanobacteria for natural product research thus goes far beyond the exploitation of the bioactivity of the products. Knowledge about the biochemistry of unique enzymes is particularly valuable for synthetic biology

• genomic mining toolbox to access the genomic resources and to discover hidden treasures remains a challenge for the future. Cyanobacterial biosynthetic enzymes have revealed great potential for synthetic biology approaches for rational modifications of existing leading compounds and for the generation of

Coupled chemo(enzymatic) reactions in continuous flow

• Ruslan Yuryev,
• Simon Strompen and
• Andreas Liese

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 1449–1467, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.169

• technology is believed to be the main tool of synthetic biology, envisioning the creation of artificial cells with synthetic metabolic networks programmed to do a specific task, such as the treatment of diseases, the degradation of pollutants, or the synthesis of biofuels, and bulk and fine chemicals