ABSTRACT
Lovastatin and the closely related compactin (Fig. 1) are examples of the thousands of known microbial polyketide metabolites, so named because of a characteristic feature of their biosynthesis, the involvement of intermediates containing repeated -carbonyl motifs [1,2]. These two fungal metabolites were discovered in the late 1970s, and they or drugs derived from them are taken daily by millions of people worldwide to inhibit cholesterol biosynthesis and thereby lessen the untoward effects of an overabundance of serum cholesterol on the cardiovascular system. Their importance in human medicine has resulted in
Figure 1 Typical aromatic and reduced fungal polyketides.
