摘要：Whereas storage of information in biological systems generally relies on large macromolecules, e.g. DNA and RNA, signaling, that is transduction of information, proceeds to a large extent via biogenic small molecules, metabolites of diverse chemical make-up and biosynthetic history. Biogenic small molecules (BSMs) serve as signals within a single cell, as hormones or second messengers between different cells or tissues of one organisms, or as pheromones and quorum sensing signals between individuals of the same or several different species. BSM structures are not only extremely diverse (they may include virtually any structural feature an organic chemist could think of), but their associations with specific signaling roles are often impossible to predict. As a result, the structural and functional annotation of metabolomes has lagged greatly behind advances in genome sequencing and proteomics (Forseth and Schroeder, Curr Opin Chem Biol; 2011).
