This volume provides a comprehensive guide of cutting-edge technologies applied in the discovery of metabolic gene clusters across different domains of life. Chapter guide readers through cluster identification, characterization, evolutionary analyses, synthetic assembly, pathway re-constitution, cluster regulation and activation. Written for the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series, chapters include introductions to their respective topics, lists of the necessary materials and reagents, step-by-step and readily reproducible laboratory protocols, and tips for troubleshooting and avoiding known pitfalls. Authoritative and up-to-date, Metabolic Gene Clusters: Methods and Protocols aims to spur new discoveries in the field of metabolic gene clusters and bring different areas of research closer together.