Organization and nature of fortimicin A (astromicin) biosynthetic genes studied using a cosmid library of Micromonospora olivasterospora DNA

Micromonospora: A Prolific Source of Bioactive Secondary Metabolites with Therapeutic Potential

Micromonospora, one of the most important actinomycetes genera, is well-known as the treasure trove of bioactive secondary metabolites (SMs). Herein, together with an in-depth genomic analysis of the reported Micromonospora strains, all SMs from this genus are comprehensively summarized, containing structural features, bioactive properties, and mode of actions as well as their biosynthetic and chemical synthesis pathways. The perspective enables a detailed view of Micromonospora-derived SMs, which will enrich the chemical diversity of natural products and inspire new drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry.

Biosynthesis of cyclitols

Review covering up to 2021Cyclitols derived from carbohydrates are naturally stable hydrophilic substances under ordinary physiological conditions, increasing the water solubility of whole molecules in cells. The stability of cyclitols is derived from their carbocyclic structures bearing no acetal groups, in contrast to sugar molecules. Therefore, carbocycle-forming reactions are critical for the biosynthesis of cyclitols. Herein, we review naturally occurring cyclitols that have been identified to date and categorize them according to the type of carbocycle-forming enzymatic reaction. Furthermore, the cyclitol-forming enzymatic reaction mechanisms and modification pathways of the initially generated cyclitols are reviewed.

Rubrolone production by Dactylosporangium vinaceum: biosynthesis, modulation and possible biological function

Rare actinomycetes are likely treasure troves for bioactive natural products, and it is therefore important that we enrich our understanding of biosynthetic potential of these relatively understudied bacteria. Dactylosporangium are a genus of such rare Actinobacteria that are known to produce a number of important antibacterial compounds, but for which there are still no fully assembled reference genomes, and where the extent of encoded biosynthetic capacity is not defined. Dactylosporangium vinaceum (NRRL B-16297) is known to readily produce a deep wine red-coloured diffusible pigment of unknown origin, and it was decided to define the chemical identity of this natural product pigment, and in parallel use whole genome sequencing and transcriptional analysis to lay a foundation for understanding the biosynthetic capacity of these bacteria. Results show that the produced pigment is made of various rubrolone conjugates, the spontaneous product of the reactive pre-rubrolone, produced by the bacterium. Genome and transcriptome analysis identified the highly expressed biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) for pre-rubrolone. Further analysis of the fully assembled genome found it to carry 24 additional BGCs, of which the majority were poorly transcribed, confirming the encoded capacity of this bacterium to produce natural products but also illustrating the main bottleneck to exploiting this capacity. Finally, analysis of the potential environmental role of pre-rubrolone found it to react with a number of amine containing antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides and siderophores pointing to its potential role as a "minesweeper" of xenobiotic molecules in the bacterial environment. KEY POINTS: • D. vinaceum encodes many BGC, but the majority are transcriptionally silent. • Chemical screening identifies molecules that modulate rubrolone production. • Pre-rubrolone is efficient at binding and inactivating many natural antibiotics.

Heptose-containing bacterial natural products: structures, bioactivities, and biosyntheses

Covering: up to 2020Glycosylated natural products hold great potential as drugs for the treatment of human and animal diseases. Heptoses, known as seven-carbon-chain-containing sugars, are a group of saccharides that are rarely observed in natural products. Based on the structures of the heptoses, the heptose-containing natural products can be divided into four groups, characterized by heptofuranose, highly-reduced heptopyranose, d-heptopyranose, and l-heptopyranose. Many of them possess remarkable biological properties, including antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor, and pain relief activities, thereby attracting great interest in biosynthesis and chemical synthesis studies to understand their construction mechanisms and structure-activity relationships. In this review, we summarize the structural properties, biological activities, and recent progress in the biosynthesis of bacterial natural products featuring seven-carbon-chain-containing sugars. The biosynthetic origins of the heptose moieties are emphasized.

Istamycin aminoglycosides profiling and their characterization in Streptomyces tenjimariensis ATCC 31603 culture using high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

A high-performance liquid chromatography with electrospray ionization ion trap tandem mass spectrometry method was developed and validated for the robust profiling and characterization of biosynthetic congeners in the 2-deoxy-aminocyclitol istamycin pathway, from the fermentation broth of Streptomyces tenjimariensis ATCC 31603. Gradient elution on an Acquity CSH C₁₈ column was performed with a gradient of 5 mM aqueous pentafluoropropionic acid and 50% acetonitrile. Sixteen natural istamycin congeners were profiled and quantified in descending order; istamycin A, istamycin B, istamycin A₀ , istamycin B₀ , istamycin B₁ , istamycin A₁ , istamycin C, istamycin A₂ , istamycin C₁ , istamycin C₀ , istamycin X₀ , istamycin A₃ , istamycin Y₀ , istamycin B₃ , and istamycin FU-10 plus istamycin AP. In addition, a total of five sets of 1- or 3-epimeric pairs were chromatographically separated using a macrocyclic glycopeptide-bonded chiral column. The lower limit of quantification of istamycin-A present in S. tenjimariensis fermentation was estimated to be 2.2 ng/mL. The simultaneous identification of a wide range of 2-deoxy-aminocyclitol-type istamycin profiles from bacterial fermentation was determined for the first time by employing high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis and the separation of istamycin epimers.

The B12-Radical SAM Enzyme PoyC Catalyzes Valine Cβ-Methylation during Polytheonamide Biosynthesis

Genomic and metagenomic investigations have recently led to the delineation of a novel class of natural products called ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). RiPPs are ubiquitous among living organisms and include pharmaceutically relevant compounds such as antibiotics and toxins. A prominent example is polytheonamide A, which exhibits numerous post-translational modifications, some of which were unknown in ribosomal peptides until recently. Among these post-translational modifications, C-methylations have been proposed to be catalyzed by two putative radical S-adenosylmethionine (rSAM) enzymes, PoyB and PoyC. Here we report the in vitro activity of PoyC, the first B₁₂-dependent rSAM enzyme catalyzing peptide C_β-methylation. We show that PoyC catalyzes the formation of S-adenosylhomocysteine and 5′-deoxyadenosine and the transfer of a methyl group to l-valine residue. In addition, we demonstrate for the first time that B₁₂-rSAM enzymes have a tightly bound MeCbl cofactor that during catalysis transfers a methyl group originating from S-adenosyl-l-methionine. Collectively, our results shed new light on polytheonamide biosynthesis and the large and emerging family of B₁₂-rSAM enzymes.

C3'-Deoxygenation of Paromamine Catalyzed by a Radical S-Adenosylmethionine Enzyme: Characterization of the Enzyme AprD4 and Its Reductase Partner AprD3

C3'-deoxygenation of aminoglycosides results in their decreased susceptibility to phosphorylation thereby increasing their efficacy as antibiotics. However, the biosynthetic mechanism of C3'-deoxygenation is unknown. To address this issue, aprD4 and aprD3 genes from the apramycin gene cluster in Streptomyces tenebrarius were expressed in E. coli and the resulting gene products were characterized in vitro. AprD4 is shown to be a radical S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) enzyme, catalyzing homolysis of SAM to 5'-deoxyadenosine (5'-dAdo) in the presence of paromamine. [4'-(2) H]-Paromamine was prepared and used to show that its C4'-H is transferred to 5'-dAdo by AprD4, during which the substrate is dehydrated to a product consistent with 4'-oxolividamine. In contrast, paromamine is reduced to a deoxy product when incubated with AprD4/AprD3/NADPH. These results show that AprD4 is the first radical SAM diol-dehydratase and, along with AprD3, is responsible for 3'-deoxygenation in aminoglycoside biosynthesis.

Characterization of fortimicin aminoglycoside profiles produced from Micromonospora olivasterospora DSM 43868 by high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-ion trap-mass spectrometry

In this study, an efficient high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-electrospray ionization (ESI)-ion trap-tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) was developed for the identification of the biosynthetic congeners involved in the aminocyclitol aminoglycosidic fortimicin pathway from Micromonospora olivasterospora fermentation. The usage of both acid extraction (pH ∼2.5) followed by an cationic-exchanging SPE cleanup and pentafluoropropionic acid mediated ion-pairing chromatography with ESI-ion trap-MS/MS detection was determined to be sufficiently practical to profile the fortimicin (FOR) congeners produced in a culture broth. The limit of the quantification for the fortimicin A (FOR-A) standard spiked in the culture broth was ∼1.6 ng mL(-1). The average recovery rate was 93.6%, and the intra- and inter-day precisions were <5% with accuracy in the range from 87.1 to 94.2%. Moreover, the epimeric mixtures including FOR-KH, FOR-KR, and FOR-B were separately resolved through a macrocyclic glycopeptide (teicoplanin)-bonded chiral column. As a result, ten natural FOR pseudodisaccharide analogs were identified and semi-quantified in descending order as follows: FOR-A, FOR-B, DCM, FOR-KH plus FOR-KR, FOR-KK1, FOR-AP, FOR-KL1, FOR-AO, and FOR-FU-10. This is the first report on both the simultaneous characterization of diverse structurally closely related FORs derived from bacterial fermentation using HPLC-ESI-ion trap-MS/MS analysis and the chromatographic separation of the three FOR epimers.

Aminoglycoside Antibiotics: New Insights into the Biosynthetic Machinery of Old Drugs

2-Deoxystreptamine (2DOS) is the unique chemically stable aminocyclitol scaffold of clinically important aminoglycoside antibiotics such as neomycin, kanamycin, and gentamicin, which are produced by Actinomycetes. The 2DOS core can be decorated with various deoxyaminosugars to make structurally diverse pseudo-oligosaccharides. After the discovery of biosynthetic gene clusters for 2DOS-containing aminoglycoside antibiotics, the function of each biosynthetic enzyme has been extensively elucidated. The common biosynthetic intermediates 2DOS, paromamine and ribostamycin are constructed by conserved enzymes encoded in the gene clusters. The biosynthetic intermediates are then converted to characteristic architectures by unique enzymes encoded in each biosynthetic gene cluster. In this Personal Account, we summarize both common biosynthetic pathways and the pathways used for structural diversification.

A strategy for seamless cloning of large DNA fragments from Streptomyces

We report a novel method for the seamless cloning of large DNA fragments (SCLF) of up to 44 kb or larger from Streptomyces chromosomal DNA. SCLF is based on homologous recombination in Streptomyces and is easy to perform. The strategy of SCLF is to flank the target sequence in the chromosomal DNA with two identical restriction sites by the insertion of plasmids containing that site at either end of the fragment, which is then isolated by plasmid rescue through the self-ligation of restriction digested genomic DNA. The method involves three steps: (i) placing a certain restriction site (CRS) at the 3'-end of the target sequence by insertion through homologous recombination of a plasmid containing the CRS; (ii) inserting through homologous recombination at the 5'-end of the target sequence a linearized self-suicide vector with the identical CRS; (iii) digesting the genomic DNA with the certain restriction enzyme followed by self-ligation in order to plasmid rescue the target fragment. SCLF can be applied to other Actinomycetales, and further optimizations may reduce the amount of time required to perform this technique.

Insect-specific production of new GameXPeptides in photorhabdus luminescens TTO1, widespread natural products in entomopathogenic bacteria

Discovery of new natural products by heterologous expression reaches its limits, especially when specific building blocks are missing in the heterologous host or the production medium. Here, we describe the insect-specific production of the new GameXPeptides E-H (5-8) from Photorhabdus luminescens TTO1, which can be produced heterologously from expression of the GameXPeptide synthetase GxpS only upon supplementation of the production media with the missing building blocks, and thus must be regarded as the true natural products under natural conditions.

Hybrid aminoglycoside antibiotics via Tsuji palladium-catalyzed allylic deoxygenation

Biosynthetically inspired manipulation of the antibiotic paromomycin led, in six high-yielding steps, to a ring A harboring an α,β-unsaturated 6'-aldehyde and an allylic 3'-methylcarbonate group. Tsuji deoxygenation in the presence of 5 mol % Pd(2)(dba)(3) and Bu(3)P granted access to a novel series of 3',4'-dideoxy-4',5'-dehydro ring A hybrids. The neomycin-sisomicin hybrid exhibited superior in vitro antibacterial activity to the parent compound neomycin.

Gene inactivation study of gntE reveals its role in the first step of pseudotrisaccharide modifications in gentamicin biosynthesis

A gene inactivation study was performed on gntE, a member of the gentamicin biosynthetic gene cluster in Micromonospora echinospora. Computer-aided homology analysis predicts a methyltransferase-related cobalamin-binding domain and a radical S-adenosylmethionine domain in GntE. It is also found that there is no gntE homolog within other aminoglycoside biosynthetic gene clusters. Inactivation of gntE was achieved in both M. echinospora ATCC 15835 and a gentamicin high-producer GMC106. High-performance liquid chromatographic analysis, coupled with mass spectrometry, revealed that gntE mutants accumulated gentamicin A2 and its derivative with a methyl group installed on the glucoamine moiety. This result substantiated that GntE participates in the first step of pseudotrisaccharide modifications in gentamicin biosynthesis, though the catalytic nature of this unusual oxidoreductase/methyltransferase candidate is not resolved. The present gene inactivation study also demonstrates that targeted genetic engineering can be applied to produce specific gentamicin structures and potentially new gentamicin derivatives in M. echinospora.

Photorhabdus luminescens genes induced upon insect infection

BACKGROUND

Photorhabdus luminescens is a Gram-negative luminescent enterobacterium and a symbiote to soil nematodes belonging to the species Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. P.luminescens is simultaneously highly pathogenic to insects. This bacterium exhibits a complex life cycle, including one symbiotic stage characterized by colonization of the upper nematode gut, and a pathogenic stage, characterized by release from the nematode into the hemocoel of insect larvae, resulting in rapid insect death caused by bacterial toxins. P. luminescens appears to sense and adapt to the novel host environment upon changing hosts, which facilitates the production of factors involved in survival within the host, host-killing, and -exploitation.

RESULTS

A differential fluorescence induction (DFI) approach was applied to identify genes that are up-regulated in the bacterium after infection of the insect host Galleria mellonella. For this purpose, a P. luminescens promoter-trap library utilizing the mCherry fluorophore as a reporter was constructed, and approximately 13,000 clones were screened for fluorescence induction in the presence of a G. mellonella larvae homogenate. Since P. luminescens has a variety of regulators that potentially sense chemical molecules, like hormones, the screen for up-regulated genes or operons was performed in vitro, excluding physicochemical signals like oxygen, temperature or osmolarity as variables. Clones (18) were obtained exhibiting at least 2.5-fold induced fluorescence and regarded as specific responders to insect homogenate. In combination with a bioinformatics approach, sequence motifs were identified in these DNA-fragments that are similar to 29 different promoters within the P. luminescens genome. By cloning each of the predicted promoters upstream of the reporter gene, induction was verified for 27 promoters in vitro, and for 24 promoters in viable G. mellonella larvae. Among the validated promoters are some known to regulate the expression of toxin genes, including tccC1 (encoding an insecticidal toxin complex), and others encoding putative toxins. A comparably high number of metabolic genes or operons were observed to be induced upon infection; among these were eutABC, hutUH, and agaZSVCD, which encode proteins involved in ethanolamine, histidine and tagatose degradation, respectively. The results reflect rearrangements in metabolism and the use of other metabolites available from the insect. Furthermore, enhanced activity of promoters controlling the expression of genes encoding enzymes linked to antibiotic production and/or resistance was observed. Antibiotic production and resistance may influence competition with other bacteria, and thus might be important for a successful infection. Lastly, several genes of unknown function were identified that may represent novel pathogenicity factors.

CONCLUSION

We show that a DFI screen is useful for identifying genes or operons induced by chemical stimuli, such as diluted insect homogenate. A bioinformatics comparison of motifs similar to known promoters is a powerful tool for identifying regulated genes or operons. We conclude that signals for the regulation of those genes or operons induced in P. luminescens upon insect infection may represent a wide variety of compounds that make up the insect host. Our results provide insight into the complex response to the host that occurs in a bacterial pathogen, particularly reflecting the potential for metabolic shifts and other specific changes associated with virulence.

Natural-product sugar biosynthesis and enzymatic glycodiversification

Many biologically active small-molecule natural products produced by microorganisms derive their activities from sugar substituents. Changing the structures of these sugars can have a profound impact on the biological properties of the parent compounds. This realization has inspired attempts to derivatize the sugar moieties of these natural products through exploitation of the sugar biosynthetic machinery. This approach requires an understanding of the biosynthetic pathway of each target sugar and detailed mechanistic knowledge of the key enzymes. Scientists have begun to unravel the biosynthetic logic behind the assembly of many glycosylated natural products and have found that a core set of enzyme activities is mixed and matched to synthesize the diverse sugar structures observed in nature. Remarkably, many of these sugar biosynthetic enzymes and glycosyltransferases also exhibit relaxed substrate specificity. The promiscuity of these enzymes has prompted efforts to modify the sugar structures and alter the glycosylation patterns of natural products through metabolic pathway engineering and enzymatic glycodiversification. In applied biomedical research, these studies will enable the development of new glycosylation tools and generate novel glycoforms of secondary metabolites with useful biological activity.

Biosynthesis of aminocyclitol-aminoglycoside antibiotics and related compounds

This review covers the biosynthesis of aminocyclitol-aminoglycoside antibiotics and related compounds, particularly from the molecular genetic perspectives. 195 references are cited.

Vector systems allowing efficient autonomous or integrative gene cloning in Micromonospora sp. strain 40027

Vector systems allowing autonomous or site-specific integrative gene cloning were developed for Micromonospora sp. strain 40027, a producer of the antibiotic fortimicin A. The autonomous system depends on the discovery of a low-copy-number, self-transmissible covalently closed circular plasmid, pJTU112 (ca. 14.1 kb), which was shown to be present in the progenitor strain in both integrated and autonomous states. The copy numbers of both wild-type pJTU112 and three derivatives of it can be amplified at least sixfold by addition of streptomycin to the culture medium. The integrative system was developed by the use of a pBR322-derived Escherichia coli plasmid vector, pSET152, mediated by the attP site of the Streptomyces phage PhiC31. Both vectors can be transferred by conjugation from E. coli into Micromonospora sp. strain 40027. The heterologous cloning and expression of the dnd gene cluster originating from Streptomyces lividans 1326 into Micromonospora sp. strain 40027 demonstrated the use of the two systems.

Development of a self-cloning system for Actinomadura verrucosospora and identification of polyketide synthase genes essential for production of the angucyclic antibiotic pradimicin

A self-cloning system for Actinomadura verrucosospora, a producer of the angucyclic antibiotic pradimicin A (PRM A), has been developed. The system is based on reproducible and reliable protoplasting and regeneration conditions for A. verrucosospora and a novel plasmid vector that consists of a replicon from a newly found Actinomadura plasmid and a selectable marker cloned from the Actinomadura strain. The system has an efficiency of more than 10(5) CFU/microgram of DNA. Using this system, we have cloned and identified the polyketide synthase (PKS) genes essential for PRM A biosynthesis from A. verrucosospora. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the 3.5-kb SalI-SphI fragment showed that ketosynthase subunits (open reading frame 1 [ORF1] and ORF2) of the essential PKS genes have strong similarities (59 to 89%) to those for angucyclic antibiotic biosynthesis.

Analysis of plasmid pMZ1 from Micromonospora zionensis

Plasmid pMZ1, isolated from Micromonospora zionensis, was also able to replicate by the rolling circle mechanism in Micromonospora melanosporea and Streptomyces lividans. Southern hybridisation experiments with probe prepared from pMZ1 and immobilised M. zionesis DNA fragments separated on pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, indicated that the plasmid is present in the progenitor strain in both integrated and autonomous states. Thiostrepton resistant derivatives of pMZ1 plasmid, pMZS25 and pMZS34, were used to study conjugal transfer in M. melanosporea and S. lividans. A 3.4 kb NcoI-MluI fragment from pMZ1 cloned in pIJ702 (plasmid pIJNM3) was shown to be sufficient to promote plasmid transfer and pock formation in S. lividans.

Translational autoregulation of the sgm gene from Micromonospora zionensis

The sisomicin-gentamicin resistance methylase gene (sgm) from Micromonospora zionensis (the producer of antibiotic G-52 [6-N-methyl-sisomicin]) encodes an enzyme that modifies 16S rRNA and thereby confers resistance to 4,6-disubstituted deoxystreptamine aminoglycosides. Here, we report that this gene is regulated on the translational level. The Escherichia coli lacZ gene and operon fusion system was used, and it was shown that an extra copy of the sgm gene decreases the activity of the fusion protein. These results suggested that expression of the sgm gene is regulated by the translational autorepression because of binding of the methylase to its own mRNA. It was shown by computer analysis that the same hexanucleotide (CCGCCC) is present 14 bp before the ribosome-binding site and in the C-1400 region of 16S rRNA, i.e., the region in which most of the aminoglycosides act. A deletion that removes the hexanucleotide before the gene fusion is not prone to negative autoregulation. This mode of regulation of the sgm gene ensures that enough methylase molecules protect the cell from the action of its own antibiotic. On the other hand, if all of the ribosomes are modified, Sgm methylase binds to its own mRNA in an autorepressive manner.

Analysis of the self-defense gene (fmrO) of a fortimicin A (astromicin) producer, Micromonospora olivasterospora: comparison with other aminoglycoside-resistance-encoding genes

The nucleotide (nt) sequence of a 3409-bp PvuII fragment carrying the self-defense gene (fmrO) of a fortimicin A (FmA; astromicin) producer, Micromonospora olivasterospora, was determined; four open reading frames (ORFs) exist in this region. Expression analysis of fmrO using the lac promoter in Escherichia coli revealed that ORF-3 encodes fmrO. ORF-1 was considered to encode a FmKH epimerase (fms11). ORF-2, ORF-3 and ORF-4 seemed to form an operon. No homology was detected between fmrO and the resistance-encoding gene fmrT of Streptomyces tenjimariensis, a producer of the Fm-group antibiotic, istamycin. Gene organization around the fmr genes differed considerably between M. olivasterospora and S. tenjimariensis. The deduced amino acid sequence of fmrO showed an identity of 30.8% to grmA of M. purpurea and 35.8% to grmB of M. rosea, respectively, suggesting that fmrO encodes a 16S rRNA methyltransferase. We found in M. purpurea a novel resistance gene distinct from grmA and highly similar to fmrO which conferred a resistance phenotype similar to that of fmrO. These results suggest that fmrO of M. olivasterospora and the two resistance-encoding genes of M. purpurea were derived from a common ancestral gene.