Bacterial secondary metabolites play important roles in promoting survival, though few have been carefully studied in their natural context. Numerous gene clusters code for secondary metabolites in the genomes of members of the Bptm group, made up of three closely related species with distinctly different lifestyles: the opportunistic pathogen Burkholderia pseudomallei, the non-pathogenic saprophyte Burkholderia thailandensis, and the host-adapted pathogen Burkholderia mallei. Several biosynthetic gene clusters are conserved across two or all three species, and this provides an opportunity to understand how the corresponding secondary metabolites contribute to survival in different contexts in nature. In this review, we discuss three secondary metabolites from the Bptm group: bactobolin, malleilactone (and malleicyprol), and the 4-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-alkylquinolines, providing an overview of each of their biosynthetic pathways and insight into their potential ecological roles. Results of studies on these secondary metabolites provide a window into how secondary metabolites contribute to bacterial survival in different environments, from host infections to polymicrobial soil communities.

细菌次生代谢物在促进存活方面发挥着重要作用，尽管很少有人对其自然环境进行仔细研究。许多基因簇编码 Bptm 组成员基因组中的次生代谢物，由三个密切相关的物种组成，具有明显不同的生活方式：机会性病原体Burkholderia pseudomallei、非致病性腐生Burkholderia thailandensis和宿主适应性病原体Burkholderia马莱. 几个生物合成基因簇在两个或所有三个物种中都是保守的，这提供了一个机会来了解相应的次生代谢物如何在自然界的不同环境中促进生存。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了 Bptm 组的三种次生代谢物：bactobolin、mallilactone（和 malleicyprol）和 4-羟基-3-甲基-2-烷基喹啉，概述了它们的每条生物合成途径并深入了解了它们的潜力生态作用。对这些次生代谢物的研究结果为了解次生代谢物如何在不同环境中促进细菌存活提供了一个窗口，从宿主感染到多微生物土壤群落。