Phylogenomic-driven Drug Discovery from Rhodococcus and Saccharomonospora using 2D and 3D Cell Cultures

The project titled, 'Phylogenomic-driven Drug Discovery from Rhodococcus and Saccharomonospora using 2D and 3D Cell Cultures' aims to explore the microbial diversity and genomic landscape of two important, yet somewhat neglected, natural product producing actinobacterial genera, Rhodococcus and Saccharomonospora.

Symbiotic systems and unique habitats will serve as isolation sources of novel species, and I will employ state-of-the-art sequencing techniques to perform a comprehensive in depth phylogenomic analysis to fully depict their biocatalytic repertoire and by doing so, unravel their unique natural product potential.

I will spearhead the establishment of novel 2D and 3D cultivation techniques with ecomimetic properties to mimic natural scenarios and thereby trigger the production of cryptic metabolites.

I will employ sophisticated dereplication and chemical analytical strategies to characterize and structurally elucidate novel chemical entities with drug-like scaffolds.

Based on these results, I will be able to test all of the identified natural products for their pharmacological properties within the framework of the Helmholtz drug discovery pipeline and collaboration partners.

My targeted and interdisciplinary research approach will allow me to gain valuable genomic and evolutionary insights and streamline the discovery of pharmaceutically valuable natural product scaffolds.