{"title":"Accelerating natural product discovery, characterization and engineering by biofoundries.","authors":"Ling Hu, Yuwei Pan, Huimin Zhao","doi":"10.1039/d6np00061d","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00061d","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: From early developments to the presentNatural product (NP) discovery is increasingly constrained by low-throughput screening, repeated rediscovery, and challenges in scaling genome mining-guided validation workflows. This highlight examines how automated biofoundries are accelerating NP discovery, characterization, and engineering through integrated design-build-test-learn (DBTL) cycles. We discuss recent advances in phenotype-first and genome-first discovery strategies enabled by robotics, high-throughput pathway reconstitution, and automated screening platforms. We further highlight emerging technologies, including cell-free biosynthesis, automated culturomics, programmable chassis engineering, and AI-assisted workflow orchestration, that may enable increasingly autonomous biofoundries for scalable exploration of NP chemical space and therapeutic discovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13563438/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148944055","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oxazole- and isoxazole-containing derivatives of high importance in the development of new drugs: natural sources, biogenesis, molecular targets and domino protocols.","authors":"Aleksandra Leśniewska, Piotr Przybylski","doi":"10.1039/d6np00033a","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1039/d6np00033a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: 2015 to 2026The structural diversity of oxazole- and isoxazole-containing natural products includes both linear and macrocyclic structures. These N,O-heterocycles are produced by a range of organisms, <i>e.g.</i> bacteria, fungi, marine sponges, and plants. The synthesis of oxazoles and isoxazoles <i>via</i> cascade synthetic methods can provide natural product mimics. To better understand the role of the oxazole and isoxazole moieties in drug development from the perspective of the molecular mechanism of action, selected binding modes to molecular targets are discussed and their full list is provided. Although isoxazole- and oxazole-containing natural products are biologically attractive, modifications of their scaffolds are required in many cases to release their full biological potential. The bibliography of the review covers mainly works published in the years from 2015 to 2026.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148917656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hot off the Press.","authors":"Robert A Hill, Andrew Sutherland","doi":"10.1039/d6np90029a","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np90029a","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A personal selection of 32 recent papers is presented covering various aspects of current developments in bioorganic chemistry and novel natural products such as neocucurin A from <i>Neocucurbitaria unguis-hominis</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1491-1495"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148672769","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unlocking hidden enzymatic chemistry in natural product biosynthesis.","authors":"Micah Harris, Asher Paul, Edward Kalkreuter","doi":"10.1039/d6np00034g","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00034g","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering up to 2026For decades, natural product biosynthetic enzymes have challenged conventional logic and expanded the repertoire of biological catalysis. Understanding these enzymes that catalyze such diverse and powerful reactions is critical for understanding biological pathways, leveraging biomimetic or biocatalytic chemistry, and discovering novel natural products. Uncovering these enzymes is a challenging and historied pursuit, where the landscape has shifted greatly with advances in bioinformatics and unprecedented access to large datasets. These new omics technologies have unlocked new strategies, complementing older strategies, for the prioritization of candidate enzymes for characterization. This Highlight examines several established and emerging strategies for uncovering novel enzymatic chemistry in the context of natural product biosynthesis, focusing on representative examples that define current capabilities and outline key challenges.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1496-1510"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148256373","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Phanankosi Moyo, Ikhane O Albert, Neo Hlungwani, Thulani Sibanda, Perfoy Lumu, Ndivhuwo Kevin Khorommbi, Gurleen Kaur, Karina Calvopina Tapia, George Siegwart, Nana Kwaku Buabeng, Cynthia A Danquah, Lyndy J McGaw, Sekelwa Cosa, Christopher J Schofield, Vinesh J Maharaj
{"title":"β-Lactam antibiotics and β-lactamases: historical perspectives and a review of β-lactamase inhibitors derived from natural products.","authors":"Phanankosi Moyo, Ikhane O Albert, Neo Hlungwani, Thulani Sibanda, Perfoy Lumu, Ndivhuwo Kevin Khorommbi, Gurleen Kaur, Karina Calvopina Tapia, George Siegwart, Nana Kwaku Buabeng, Cynthia A Danquah, Lyndy J McGaw, Sekelwa Cosa, Christopher J Schofield, Vinesh J Maharaj","doi":"10.1039/d5np00081e","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d5np00081e","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: up to the end of November 2025The history of β-lactam antibiotics and, subsequently, β-lactamase inhibitors highlight the indispensable role of natural products in modern medicine. The isolation and testing of β-lactam bearing natural products led to world-changing therapeutic breakthroughs, yielding efficacious, safe, and cost-effective medicines that are still widely used today. The scientific triumph of β-lactams was, however, followed by a period of reduced research into new antibiotics, during which time bacterial pathogens acquired multiple mechanisms of resistance. The available evidence suggests that this situation is not irretrievable - whereas insufficient medicinal chemistry is currently being carried out to enable a renaissance in antibiotic development, our molecular understanding of antimicrobial modes of action and resistance mechanisms has improved dramatically. The history of β-lactams and many other drug classes suggests that natural product-based approaches will be critical in the future. Here, we summarise the history of β-lactams, focusing on natural product science. We then examine historical and recent efforts to identify new types of β-lactamase inhibitors using natural product-based screening approaches. We conclude by providing a perspective on how we can most efficiently discover β-lactamase inhibitors from microbial and plant-derived natural products.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1511-1541"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147757612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cinnamoyl-containing non-ribosomal peptides: discovery, bioactivity and biosynthesis.","authors":"Yuyang Wang, Yanqing Li, Yingying Chen, Jianhua Ju, Zhuo Shang, Junying Ma","doi":"10.1039/d5np00084j","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d5np00084j","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: up to Oct, 2025Cinnamoyl-containing non-ribosomal peptides (CCNPs) are characterized by a cinnamoyl group, which is substituted at the <i>ortho</i> position with an alkyl side chain and linked to a peptide scaffold, representing a structurally unique and pharmacologically promising family of microbial natural products. Here, the current knowledge of their chemical diversity, biological activities, and intricate biosynthetic mechanisms is systematically summarized. Their characteristic biosynthetic logic centers on the conserved coupling of a highly reducing type II polyketide synthase (hrPKS II) with a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS). Particular emphasis is placed on two fundamental principles: first, the conserved pathway for cinnamoyl benzene ring formation, initiated by an isomerase and proceeding <i>via</i> 6π-electrocyclization catalyzed by three distinct enzymes classes, namely, YsfF (4-hydroxybenzoyl-CoA thioesterase (4-HBT)-like enzymes), Kcn17-19 (DsrE family enzyme components) and YssX/YsfX, thereby providing a reliable signature for genome mining. Second, the remarkable diversity of cinnamoyl tailoring, peptide modification, and NRPS assembly collectively offers substantial opportunities for structural diversification through combinatorial biosynthesis strategies. Elucidating these biosynthetic features has shifted the research paradigm from discovery to rational engineering. However, this shift has not yet translated into comprehensive pharmacological evaluation, as most reported activities have been only briefly assessed, and extensive studies are still needed to fully realize their therapeutic potential. This review not only consolidates recent advances but also provides a strategic framework for future research aimed at unlocking the full potential of these fascinating natural products.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1650-1685"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148275072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Youngse Oh, Jaeyoun Lee, Soohyun Um, Seung Hyun Kim
{"title":"Microbial biotransformation of plant-derived metabolites: mechanisms, pathways, and multi-omics integration.","authors":"Youngse Oh, Jaeyoun Lee, Soohyun Um, Seung Hyun Kim","doi":"10.1039/d6np00039h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00039h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: 2000 to 2026Plant-derived metabolites in foods and herbal medicines are frequently transformed by microbial communities before they reach systemic circulation. Consequently, the chemical forms responsible for biological activities often differ from the compounds originally present in plant matrices. This review examines the microbial biotransformation of plant metabolites through a mechanism-focused framework that integrates enzymology, reaction chemistry, and community-level context. We organize known transformations into recurring reaction classes, including hydrolytic activation, redox remodeling, functional-group tailoring, and scaffold rearrangement. We also discuss how omics approaches enable pathway attribution and enzyme prioritization in complex microbial communities. Finally, we highlight the emerging strategies that modulate these transformations through dietary composition, fermentation, and metabolite-focused interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1601-1625"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148256404","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yongjae Lee, Woori Kim, Chanyoung Joung, Hyeseong Kim, Namil Lee, Byung-Kwan Cho
{"title":"Decoding multidimensional regulatory networks in <i>Streptomyces</i> to accelerate natural product discovery and production.","authors":"Yongjae Lee, Woori Kim, Chanyoung Joung, Hyeseong Kim, Namil Lee, Byung-Kwan Cho","doi":"10.1039/d6np00022c","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00022c","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: 2019 to 2025<i>Streptomyces</i> species are well known for their immense genomic potential for the discovery of natural products. However, the majority of their biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) remain silent or are poorly expressed under laboratory conditions. This silence is largely attributed to the regulatory complexity encoded within their large genomes, which feature thousands of regulators and multilayered control systems. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding genome-scale transcriptional regulation in <i>Streptomyces</i>, alongside the emerging experimental platforms designed to investigate these mechanisms. By integrating and comparing fragmented data on regulatory architectures, we highlight the extensive hierarchical, combinatorial, and condition-dependent regulatory networks that govern secondary metabolite biosynthesis in <i>Streptomyces</i>. Furthermore, integrative analyses reveal the conservation of regulatory architectures across <i>Streptomyces</i> species, facilitating the translation of findings from model organisms to BGC discovery, activation, and engineering in less studied species. Beyond transcription, we also discuss the additional regulatory layers, including post-transcriptional, translational, post-translational, and chromosome topology-based controls, and their practical applications in natural product research. Collectively, this review reframes the complex transcriptional regulatory networks not as a bottleneck but as a central principle for understanding and exploiting the biosynthetic potential of <i>Streptomyces</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1626-1649"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148275032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Debabrata Giri, Saikat Mondal, M Carmen Galan, Abhijit Sau
{"title":"Challenges and opportunities in the synthesis of biologically relevant flavonoids and their glycosides.","authors":"Debabrata Giri, Saikat Mondal, M Carmen Galan, Abhijit Sau","doi":"10.1039/d6np00008h","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00008h","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: 2015 to 2025Natural product synthesis is key to unravel the roles and functions of complex biological molecules and drive innovations in drug discovery, agrochemicals, and materials sciences. Flavonoids are ubiquitous plant secondary metabolites with a C(6)-C(3)-C(6) benzo-γ-pyrone carbon skeleton, and they encompass a vast family of derivatives that play essential roles in UV protection, flower pigmentation, auxin transport, and defense against environmental stress. Flavonoid biosynthesis yields a diverse array of compounds, including flavones, anthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins, whose stability and bioactivity are often enhanced by post-translational modifications such as glycosylation and methylation. Flavonoids are known for their potent antioxidant properties and thus play a critical role in neutralizing reactive oxygen species and preserving cellular redox balance. Beyond their antioxidant activity, these phytochemicals exhibit a wide range of biological effects, including antibacterial, antiviral, anti inflammatory, and anticancer activities, highlighting their significant therapeutic potential. Due to their structural complexity and pharmacological promise, the total synthesis of flavonoids and their glycosylated analogues has garnered considerable research interest. This review aims to provide an overview of the recent advances in the total synthesis of flavonoid glycosides and their derivatives over the last decade. We selected twenty exemplary examples to illustrate key synthetic strategies while discussing their natural sources, therapeutic applications, and structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies that helped elucidate specific functional groups that are important for their pharmacological properties. We hope we can provide a current perspective on the recent advancements in flavonoid chemistry and their significance in the development of novel therapeutic agents for a range of diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1686-1745"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148275076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rare functional groups and unique scaffolds in <i>Streptomyces</i> natural products.","authors":"Sanyuan Shi, Xuerui Jin, Gaoli Wang, Xuewei Hao, Jing Xie, Liujie Huo, Yunzi Luo","doi":"10.1039/d6np00012f","DOIUrl":"10.1039/d6np00012f","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Covering: up to December 2025The incorporation of distinctive structures such as uncommon functional groups, distinct molecular scaffolds, unusual modifications and other characteristic structural features can significantly enhance metabolic stability, bioactivity, and pharmacokinetic properties of drug molecules, offering ways to optimize the design and synthesis of novel bioactive molecules in synthetic biology. <i>Streptomyces</i>, a highly diverse and widespread bacterial genus, produces an extraordinary array of secondary metabolites, exhibiting remarkable structural variety. This structural ingenuity lies at the heart of functional innovation, establishing <i>Streptomyces</i> as a prolific source for drug discovery. The vast and diverse structural repertoire of these natural products offers valuable inspiration for novel structural designs in medicinal chemistry. Moreover, the vast array of natural enzymes provides a versatile toolkit for the site-specific modifications of complex scaffolds, facilitating the development of novel drug molecules that bypass the structural limitations of traditional chemical synthesis. This review highlights <i>Streptomyces</i> natural products with rare functional groups, unique scaffolds, and atypical modifications, examining the enzymatic mechanisms to link biosynthetic diversity with synthetic biology applications and efficient cell factory design.</p>","PeriodicalId":94,"journal":{"name":"Natural Product Reports","volume":" ","pages":"1563-1600"},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148256401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}