Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry
Program Focus
Naturally occurring small molecules (natural products) have long played a critical role in drug discovery with estimates that over 65% of all approved small molecule drugs are either natural products, derivatives, or contain the pharmacophore of a natural product. Some important examples include taxol (anticancer), rapamycin (immunosuppressive), and penicillin (antibiotic) - these drugs have saved countless lives and influenced healthcare outcomes worldwide. The potent and specific bioactivities of natural products is due to their intricate structures, which result from millions of years of evolutionary selection to fine tune their ecological roles. Beginning in Aug. 2020, my lab will use a function-first approach to discover novel natural products from underexplored environmental niches that self-select for production of biologically active small molecules. For example, we will investigate marine egg mass microbiomes to discover metabolites that deter predation and these compounds could serve as therapeutic leads to treat cancer and infections. We will also study small molecule electron shuttles that deep-sea hydrothermal vent bacteria use for respiration on solid mineral substrates and work to understand the chemical exchanges between pathogens and symbionts of hard coral. By studying the chemistry of ecological systems, we will uncover new bioactive natural products and unravel biological mysteries.
Selected Publications
*Mevers, E., *Saurí, J., *Helfrich, E. J. N., Henke, M., Barns, K., Bugni, T. S., Andes, D., Currie, C. R., Clardy, J. Pyonitrins A-D: Chimeric Natural Products Produced by Pseudomonas protegens J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 17098-17101.
*Mevers, E., *Su, L., Pishchany, G., Baruch, M., Cornejo, J., Hobert, E., Dimise, E., Ajo-Franklin, C. M., Clardy, J. An Elusive Electron Shuttle from a Facultative Anaerobe eLife 2019, 8, e48054.
*Pishchany, G., *Mevers, E., Ndousse-Fetter, S. Horvath, D. J., Paludo, C. R., Silva-Junior, E. A., Koren, S., Skaar, E. P., Clardy, J., Kolter, R. Amycomicin: A Potent and Specific Antibiotic Discovered with a Targeted Interaction Screen Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 2018, 115, 10124-10129.
*Puri, A.W. *Mevers, E., *Ramadhar, T. R., Petras, D., Liu, D., Piel, J., Dorrestein, P. C., Greenberg, E. P., Lidstrom, M. E., Clardy, J. Tundrenone: An Atypical Secondary Metabolite from Bacteria with Highly Restricted Primary Metabolism J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, 140, 2002-2006.
Mevers, E., Chouvenc, T., Su, N-Y, Clardy, J. Chemical Interaction Among Termite-Associated Microbes J. Chem. Ecol. 2017, 43, 1078-1085.
Mevers, E., Sauri, J., Liu, Y., Moser, A., Ramadhar, T., Varlan, M., Williamson, R. T., Martin, G. E., Clardy, J. Homodimericin A: A Complex Hexacyclic Fungal Metabolite J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 12324-12327.
Mevers, E., Matainaho, T., Allara, M., Di Marzo, V., Gerwick, W. Mooreamide A: A Cannabinomimetic Lipid from the Marine Cyanobacterium Moorea bouillonii Lipids 2014, 49, 1127-1132.
Mevers, E., Liu, W.T., Engene, N., Mohimani, H., Byrum, T., Pevzner, P., Dorrestein, P., Gerwick, W. H. Cytotoxic Veraguamides, Alkynyl Bromide Containing Cyclic Depsipeptides from the marine Cyanobacterium cf. Oscillatoria margaritifera J. Nat. Prod. 2011, 74, 928-936.