Bioactive molecules unearthed by terabase-scale long-read sequencing of a soil metagenome

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 Terabase-scale long-read sequencing of soil metagenomes has revolutionized the discovery of bioactive molecules by providing unprecedented insights into the hidden genetic potential of microbial communities. Unlike short-read sequencing, long-read platforms capture complete biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), enabling accurate reconstruction of pathways responsible for the production of antibiotics, antifungals, anticancer agents, and other pharmacologically relevant compounds. Soil, being one of the richest reservoirs of microbial diversity, harbors countless uncultured microbes that encode novel secondary metabolites with immense therapeutic and industrial value. Through advanced bioinformatics pipelines, researchers can now mine these massive datasets to identify cryptic BGCs, predict chemical structures, and accelerate natural product discovery pipelines. This integrative approach not only expands our library of bioactive molecules but also opens pathways to tackle global challenges such as antibiotic resistance, crop protection, and sustainable bioproduct development.

#soilmetagenome #longreadsequencing #bioactivemolecules #naturalproductsdiscovery #biosyntheticgeneclusters #microbialdiversity #antibioticdiscovery #metagenomics #secondarymetabolites #genomemining #biotechnology #drugdiscovery #antimicrobialresistance #microbiomeengineering #syntheticbiology #terabasescale #nextgenerationsequencing #agriculturalbiotech #soilhealth #microbialgenomics





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