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Antibiotics.- Polyketide Synthetases: Enzyme Complexes and Multifunctional Proteins Directing the Biosynthesis of Bacterial Metabolites from Fatty Acids.- Exploring the Intricate Details of Antibiotic Biosynthesis.- Intact Incorporation of Partially Assembled Intermediates into Acetate-Derived Polyketide Antibiotics.- Biosynthetic Studies on Antibiotics.- Methyl ation Pathways in Antibiotic Producing Streptomycetes.- Diversions of the Shikimate Pathway - The Biosynthesis of Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acid.- Investigations of the Biosynthesis of Aristeromycin.- The Biosynthesis of Yirginiamycins Ml and M2.- Natural Toxins.- The Biosynthesis of Nicotine and Related Alkaloids in Intact Plants, Isolated Plant Parts, Tissue Cultures and Cell-Free Systems.- Examination of Tetrahydro- and Dihydrobisfuran Formation in Aflatoxin Biosynthesis: From Whole Cells to Purified Enzymes.- Herbicides, Phytoalexins and Microbial Metabolites.- Microorganisms: A Remarkable Source of Diverse Chemical Structures for Herbicide Discovery.- Induction of Secondary Metabolite-Phytoalexin Formation in Plant Cell Suspension Cultures.- Applications of Whole Cell Fungal Systems as Models of Mammalian Xenobiotic/Drug Metabolism.- The Structural Analysis of the Components of Alginic Acid and the Effects of Their Metal Ion Complexation as Determined by NMR.- Isoprenoid Pathway: Biosynthesis and Metabolism.- Problems and Perspectives in the Study of Metabolic Turnover of Plant Secondary Metabol ites.- Comparison of Two Monoterpene Cyclases Isolated from Higher Plants; ?-Terpinene Synthase from Thymus vulgaris and Limonene Synthase from Mentha x piperita.- Hydroxylation of (-)-ß-Pinene and (-)-?-Pinene by a Cytochrome P-450 System from Hyssop (Hyssop officinal is).- Stable Isotope Studies of CantharidinBiosynthesis by Epicauta pestifera.- The Metabolism of (R)-(+)-Pulegone, a Toxic Monoterpene.- Biosynthesis of Sesquiterpenoid Phytoalexins in Cotton Foliar Tissue.- Biosynthesis of Limonoids in Citrus.- Natural Product Biosynthesis via the Diels-Alder Reaction.- A Study of the Isoprenoid Pathway in Elicitor-Treated Tobacco Cell Suspension Cultures.- Carotenoid Biosynthesis and Regulation in Plants.- RUBBER Enzymatic Synthesis of a Rubber Polymer.- Molecular Cloning of a Portion of the Gene for the Abundant Rubber Particle of Guayule.- Regulation of Biosynthesis of Carotenoids in Phvcomvces Blakesleeanus.- Indexes.- Author Index.

This book was developed from the proceedings of the American Chemical Society, Division of Agricultural & Food Chemistry, subdivision of Natural Products Symposium "Biosynthesis and Metabolism of Secondary Natural Products" held in Atlanta, Georgia, April 1991. The objective of the conference was to bring together people from apparently diverse fields, ranging from biotechnology, metabolism, mechanistic organic chemistry, enzymology, fermentation, and biosynthesis, but who share a common interest in either the biosynthesis or the metabolism of natural products. It is our intention to help bridge the gap between the fields of mechanistic bio-organic chemistry and biotechnology. Our thanks go to Dr. Henry Yokoyama, co-organizer of the symposium, the authors who so kindly contributed chapters, the conference participants, and to those who assisted in the peer review process. We also thank the financial supporters of the symposium: ACS/AGFD, NIH General Medical Sciences, and the agricultural, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chromatography companies. A full list of the supporting corporations and institutions is given on the following page. Pharma-Tech and P.C., Inc. are manufacturers of instrumentation for high-speed countercurrent chromatography. We thank the Agricultural Research Service and the U. S. Department of Agriculture for granting me permission to co-organize the conference and for us to complete the book. Richard J. Petroski Susan P. McCormick USDA, ARS, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research Peoria, IL 61604 June 10, 1992 vii CONTENTS ANTIBIOTICS Polyketide Synthetases: Enzyme Complexes and Multifunctional Proteins Directing the Biosynthesis of Bacterial Metabolites from Fatty Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . .