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Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites pp 289–301Cite as

Meroterpenoids

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Part of the book series: Fungal Biology ((FUNGBIO))

Abstract

The fungal meroterpenoids comprise structurally diverse compounds with a wide range of biological activities, and the elucidation of their biosynthetic pathways is important for future drug discovery. Recent advances in genome sequencing have revealed many biosynthetic gene clusters for fungal meroterpenoids, thus providing clearer insights into the enzymes that construct these structurally complex molecules and the genetic bases for the production of these diversified compounds in nature. The roles of these biosynthetic genes have been studied by several approaches, including gene disruption and heterologous expression experiments. Here we present recent examples of the discoveries of the biosynthetic clusters for several meroterpenoids and the functional characterizations of their genes, including the biosynthetic genes for pyripyropene A, meroterpenoids derived from 3,5-dimethylorsellinic acid, and indole-diterpenes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan

    Yudai Matsuda & Ikuro Abe

Authors
  1. Yudai Matsuda
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  2. Ikuro Abe
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Correspondence to Ikuro Abe .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, University of León, León, Spain

    Juan-Francisco Martín

  2. Parque Científico de León, Instituto de Biotecnología de León (INBIOTEC), León, Spain

    Carlos García-Estrada

  3. Institute of Chemical Engineering, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria

    Susanne Zeilinger

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Matsuda, Y., Abe, I. (2014). Meroterpenoids. In: Martín, JF., García-Estrada, C., Zeilinger, S. (eds) Biosynthesis and Molecular Genetics of Fungal Secondary Metabolites. Fungal Biology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1191-2_13

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