Genome mining reveals two novel bacterial sesquiterpene cyclases: (-)-germacradien-4-ol and (-)-epi-α-bisabolol synthases from Streptomyces citricolor.

Now found in bacteria: An increasing number of genome sequences indicate that bacteria possess a variety of terpenoid cyclase genes. The characterization of two sesquiterpene cyclase (SC) genes found in the draft genome sequence of Streptomyces citricolor is described here. Our study strongly supports the idea that genome mining is a useful approach in revealing the terpenoid diversity in bacteria.