Naturally occurring compounds, or natural products, have been and continue to be an important source of commercially successful products and leads in the pharmaceutical, agrochemical and nutritional sectors. The conference Functional Molecules from Natural Sources, which was held at Magdalen College, Oxford in July 2009, set out to highlight current trends, challenges and successes in the exploitation of natural products from microbial, plant and marine sources. This book is based on the proceedings of the conference and comprises modern and emerging perspectives on natural product utilization and improved strategies for their exploitation. Several case studies on important natural product leads, or functional molecules, are presented with the strategy for their development. These detail new medical applications in the use of familiar natural molecules and advances in the understanding and manipulation of natural product biosynthesis at the genetic level. Highlights include an authoritative review of the entire field of natural anticancer agents emphasising those currently in clinical development, an account of the optimisation of the pleuromutilin antibiotic template for human use and a comprehensive description of the research programme that resulted in the discovery of platensimycin. Articles on biosynthesis include studies of the antibiotics of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), the anthrax siderophore petrobactin and the modification of oxidation and glycosylation events in the biosynthesis of mithramycins. Written by leading industrial and academic practitioners from each sector, the book offers authoritative updates on new approaches to the use of naturally occurring compounds within the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and agrochemical industries.

The continuing quest for new drugs and agrochemicals has seen researchers looking to the natural world for potential products. Plants and microorganisms have long been investigated as sources of new lead compounds, but the scope of this book has been widened to include substances derived from marine organisms. Advances in genetic engineering, high throughput screening and structure elucidation have also opened up further avenues for exploration. Competitive pressure from the field of combinatorial chemistry has expedited new approaches to natural product analysis and stimulated debate on the industrial utilization of natural products. Biodiversity: New Leads for the Pharmaceutical and Agrochemical Industries reviews and discusses aspects of modern natural products research. The central theme of many articles is the sustainable use of global biodiversity. Microbial, plant and marine products are presented as the sources of new drugs, including antifungal products, antibiotics, anticancer agents and animal health products. There is also coverage of the biosynthesis of polyketides and the chemical synthesis of natural products and their derivatives. A unique blend of industrial and academic perspectives on the importance of biodiversity and natural products, this book will prove an important source of state-of-the-art information for researchers, teachers and graduates in the chemical and biological sciences.