Editing Polyketide (section)

== History ==
Naturally produced polyketides by various plants and organisms have been used by humans since before studies on them began in the 19th and 20th century. In 1893, [[J. Norman Collie]] synthesized detectable amounts of [[orcinol]] by heating [[Dehydroacetic acid|dehydracetic acid]] with barium hydroxide causing the pyrone ring to open into a triketide.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors=Collie N, Myers WS |date=1893 |title=VII.—The formation of orcinol and other condensation products from dehydracetic acid |journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions |language=en |volume=63 |pages=122–128 |doi=10.1039/CT8936300122|issn=0368-1645|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2088145 }}</ref> Further studies in 1903 by Collie on the triketone polyketide intermediate noted the condensation occurring amongst compounds with multiple keten groups coining the term polyketides.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors=Collie JN |date=1907 |title=CLXXI.—Derivatives of the multiple keten group|journal=Journal of the Chemical Society, Transactions |language=en |volume=91 |pages=1806–1813 |doi=10.1039/CT9079101806 |issn=0368-1645|url=https://zenodo.org/record/2168003 }}</ref>
[[File:Orsellinsäure_is.svg|thumb|400px|Biosynthesis of [[orsellinic acid]] from polyketide intermediate.]]
It wasn't until 1955 that the biosynthesis of polyketides were understood.<ref name="Smith_2007" /> Arthur Birch used radioisotope labeling of carbon in acetate to trace the biosynthesis of [[6-Methylsalicylic acid|2-hydroxy-6-methylbenzoic acid]] in ''[[Penicillium patulum]]'' and demonstrate the head-to-tail linkage of acetic acids to form the polyketide.<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors=Birch AJ, Massy-Westropp RA, Moye CJ |date=1955 |title=Studies in relation to biosynthesis. VII. 2-Hydroxy-6-methylbenzoic acid in Penicillium griseofulvum Dierckx|url=https://www.publish.csiro.au/ch/ch9550539 |journal=Australian Journal of Chemistry|language=en|volume=8 |issue=4|pages=539–544 |doi=10.1071/ch9550539|issn=1445-0038|url-access=subscription}}</ref> In the 1980s and 1990s, advancements in genetics allowed for isolation of the genes associated to polyketides to understand the biosynthesis.<ref name="Smith_2007">{{cite journal |vauthors=Smith S, Tsai SC |title=The type I fatty acid and polyketide synthases: a tale of two megasynthases |journal=Natural Product Reports |volume=24 |issue=5 |pages=1041–1072 |date=October 2007 |pmid=17898897 |pmc=2263081 |doi=10.1039/B603600G}}</ref>