Revelation of the Balanol Biosynthetic Pathway in Tolypocladium ophioglossoides

A cryptic gene cluster, bln, was activated by genome mining in Tolypocladium ophioglossoides. This activation led to the production of balanol and eight other metabolites. Gene disruption and metabolite profile analysis showed that the biosynthesis of balanol involved the convergence of independent PKS and NRPS pathways, and a biosynthetic pathway for balanol was proposed.