The X-factor: Enhanced β-oxidation on intracellular triacylglycerols enabling overproduction of polyketide drug-like molecules in microorganisms

Natural products have been an unprecedented starting point for drug and agrochemical discovery.They represent the only validated source of chemical diversity capable of delivering a sustainable pipeline for novel drug candidates.As of 1990,80%of clinically used drugs were natural products or natural product-inspired or semi-synthetic derivatives.From 1994 to 2007,almost half of the new chemical entities approved by FDA were based on natural products[1].By the end of 2013,natural products or their inspired compounds comprised about 40%of the FDA approved drugs[2].Streptomyces are by far the most prolific natural product producing organisms and as such this genus has been the research subjects for lead compound discovery for decades.