Genomics-driven discovery of taiwachelin, a lipopeptide siderophore from Cupriavidus taiwanensisElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c2ob26296g

A genome mining study led to the identification of a previously unrecognised siderophore biosynthesis gene cluster in the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Cupriavidus taiwanensis LMG19424. Based upon predicted structural residues, a convenient strategy for an NMR-assisted isolation of the associated metabolite was designed. The structure of the purified siderophore, taiwachelin, was fully characterized by spectroscopic methods and chemical derivatisation. The bioinformatic analysis of an orphan nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene cluster in the rhizobium Cupriavidus taiwanensis spurred the isolation of a lipopeptide siderophore.