Alternative sigma factor over-expression enables heterologous expression of a type II polyketide biosynthetic pathway in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Heterologous expression of bacterial biosynthetic gene clusters is currently an indispensable tool for characterizing biosynthetic pathways. Development of an effective, general heterologous expression system that can be applied to bioprospecting from metagenomic DNA will enable the discovery of a wealth of new natural products.