New Chemicals from Soil Bacteria

Scientists found interesting chemicals in soil bacteria. These chemicals have a special group called dichloromethyl. This group is new to a type of natural product called pyranones and furanones. The bacteria that make these chemicals live in the soil of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The plateau is high up in the mountains. It is cold and dry. This makes it a tough place for most living things. The scientists found six new chemicals with the dichloromethyl group. They also found two more new chemicals. These were made by putting genes from one bacteria into another. The structures of these chemicals were figured out using special tools. These tools include high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance. The scientists also used a method called Mo2(OAc)4-induced electronic circular dichroism. This helped them figure out the exact shape of the chemicals. One of the chemicals, called AggA, is very rare. It is a type of enzyme. Enzymes are like tiny machines in cells. They help make things happen. AggA helps make the dichloromethyl group. It does this by adding two chlorine atoms to a certain part of the chemical. This is the first time scientists have seen an enzyme like this. The scientists also did some experiments. They deleted genes and used special labels. This helped them understand how the chemicals are made. They also did experiments outside of living cells. This showed how the enzyme works. The discovery of these new chemicals is important. It shows that there are still many things to learn about bacteria. Bacteria live all around us. They can make many different chemicals. Some of these chemicals might be useful for medicine or other things. The scientists hope to learn more about these chemicals and how they are made.