antiSMASH 6.0: improving cluster detection and comparison capabilities

TLDR

Microorganisms produce natural products that serve as antimicrobials and other drugs, and genome mining—particularly via the widely used antiSMASH platform—has become a key method for detecting and characterizing biosynthetic gene clusters in bacteria and fungi. The authors introduce antiSMASH version 6, an updated genome‑mining platform. Version 6 expands supported cluster types to 71, visualizes multi‑modular BGCs, adds a cluster‑comparison algorithm, integrates results from other predictors, and improves detection of tailoring enzymes in RiPP clusters.

Abstract

Many microorganisms produce natural products that form the basis of antimicrobials, antivirals, and other drugs. Genome mining is routinely used to complement screening-based workflows to discover novel natural products. Since 2011, the "antibiotics and secondary metabolite analysis shell—antiSMASH" (https://antismash.secondarymetabolites.org/) has supported researchers in their microbial genome mining tasks, both as a free-to-use web server and as a standalone tool under an OSI-approved open-source license. It is currently the most widely used tool for detecting and characterising biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in bacteria and fungi. Here, we present the updated version 6 of antiSMASH. antiSMASH 6 increases the number of supported cluster types from 58 to 71, displays the modular structure of multi-modular BGCs, adds a new BGC comparison algorithm, allows for the integration of results from other prediction tools, and more effectively detects tailoring enzymes in RiPP clusters. Here, we present version 6 of the secondary/specialized metabolite genome mining platform antiSMASH with improved detection capabilities, a new cluster compare feature and many further improvements. Here, we present version 6 of the secondary/specialized metabolite genome mining platform antiSMASH with improved detection capabilities, a new cluster compare feature and many further improvements.