MECHANISMS AND PATHWAYS FROM RECENT DEOXYSUGAR BIOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH

In the past few years, there have been many important advances in our understanding of the biosynthesis of deoxysugars. Mechanistic studies have shed light on how enzymes can cleave C-O bonds, epimerize the con figuration of substituents and reduce keto groups to make deoxysugars, Exciting progress has also been made in our comprehension of the gene tics of deoxysugar biosynthesis in antibiotics. All this information i s important for potential medical and biotechnological applications, s uch as drug discovery based on combinatorial biology.