A Novel Pathway for Biosynthesis of the Herbicidal Phosphonate Natural Product Phosphonothrixin Is Widespread in Actinobacteria

Phosphonic acid natural products, such as phosphonothrixin, have great potential for biomedical and agricultural applications; however, discovery and development of these compounds requires detailed knowledge of the metabolism involved in their biosynthesis. The studies reported here reveal the biochemical pathway phosphonothrixin production, which enhances our ability to design strains that overproduce this potentially useful herbicide.