gutSMASH

gutSMASH identifies primary metabolic gene clusters (MGCs) in the human gut microbiota to predict and functionally profile microbial metabolic pathways that produce metabolites influencing host health.

Key Features:

• Automated identification: Detects known and putative primary metabolic gene clusters encoded within microbial genomes.
• Pathway prediction: Predicts 41 different known pathways encompassing bioenergetics and other primary metabolic processes and highlights putative pathways as discovery candidates.
• Functional profiling: Provides functional profiling of predicted MGCs to infer metabolic capabilities related to metabolite production.
• Input formats: Accepts GenBank assembly accession numbers or genome files in FASTA or GenBank formats.
• Additional analyses: Offers optional analyses to further characterize predicted MGCs.

Scientific Applications:

• Microbiome-Derived Metabolites: Investigating molecules produced by anaerobic bacteria that affect the host directly or indirectly.
• Novel Pathway Discovery: Identifying candidate new metabolic pathways from putative MGCs.
• Functional Genomics: Analyzing the functional potential of gut microbiomes to understand their roles in health and disease.

Methodology:

Accepts genomic input (GenBank assembly accession or FASTA/GenBank files), performs automated identification and functional profiling of primary MGCs, predicts 41 known pathways including bioenergetics and other primary metabolic processes, highlights putative pathways, and compares input genomes against a comprehensive database of known gene clusters using bioinformatics techniques.