Overexpression, purification and characterization of SimL, an amide synthetase involved in simocyclinone biosynthesis

New N-acylated aminoalkanoic acids from tea roots derived biocontrol agent Clonostachys rosea 15020

Four new N-acylated aminoalkanoic acids, namely clonoroseins E-H (1-4), together with three previously identified analogs, clonoroseins A, B, and D (5-7), were identified from the endophytic fungus Clonostachys rosea strain 15020 (CR15020), using Feature-based Molecular Networking (FBMN). The elucidation of their chemical structures, including their absolute configurations, was achieved through spectroscopic analysis combined with quantum chemical calculations. Bioinformatics analyses suggested that an iterative type I HR-PKS (CrsE) generates the polyketide side chain of these clonoroseins. Furthermore, a downstream adenylate-forming enzyme of the PKS (CrsD) was suspected to function as an amide synthetase. CrsD potentially facilitates the transformation of the polyketide moiety into an acyl-AMP intermediate, followed by nucleophilic substitution with either β-alanine or γ-aminobutyric acid to produce amide derivatives. These findings significantly expand our understanding of PKS-related products originating from C. rosea and also underscore the powerful application of FBMN analytical methods in characterization of new compounds.

Broad Spectrum Enantioselective Amide Bond Synthetase from Streptoalloteichus hindustanus

The synthesis of amide bonds is one of the most frequently performed reactions in pharmaceutical synthesis, but the requirement for stoichiometric quantities of coupling agents and activated substrates in established methods has prompted interest in biocatalytic alternatives. Amide Bond Synthetases (ABSs) actively catalyze both the ATP-dependent adenylation of carboxylic acid substrates and their subsequent amidation using an amine nucleophile, both within the active site of the enzyme, enabling the use of only a small excess of the amine partner. We have assessed the ability of an ABS from Streptoalloteichus hindustanus (ShABS) to couple a range of carboxylic acid substrates and amines to form amine products. ShABS displayed superior activity to a previously studied ABS, McbA, and a remarkable complementary substrate specificity that included the enantioselective formation of a library of amides from racemic acid and amine coupling partners. The X-ray crystallographic structure of ShABS has permitted mutational mapping of the carboxylic acid and amine binding sites, revealing key roles for L207 and F246 in determining the enantioselectivity of the enzyme with respect to chiral acid and amine substrates. ShABS was applied to the synthesis of pharmaceutical amides, including ilepcimide, lazabemide, trimethobenzamide, and cinepazide, the last with 99% conversion and 95% isolated yield. These findings provide a blueprint for enabling a contemporary pharmaceutical synthesis of one of the most significant classes of small molecule drugs using biocatalysis.

Structural insights into simocyclinone as an antibiotic, effector ligand and substrate

Simocyclinones are antibiotics produced by Streptomyces and Kitasatospora species that inhibit the validated drug target DNA gyrase in a unique way, and they are thus of therapeutic interest. Structural approaches have revealed their mode of action, the inducible-efflux mechanism in the producing organism, and given insight into one step in their biosynthesis. The crystal structures of simocyclinones bound to their target (gyrase), the transcriptional repressor SimR and the biosynthetic enzyme SimC7 reveal fascinating insight into how molecular recognition is achieved with these three unrelated proteins.

New Simocyclinones: Surprising Evolutionary and Biosynthetic Insights

Simocyclinone D8 (1, SD8) has attracted attention due to its highly complex hybrid structure and the unusual way it inhibits bacterial DNA gyrase by preventing DNA binding to the enzyme. Although a hypothesis explaining simocyclinone biosynthesis has been previously proposed, little was proven in vivo due to the genetic inaccessibility of the producer strain. Herein, we report discovery of three new D-type simocyclinones (D9, D10, and D11) produced by Kitasatospora sp. and Streptomyces sp. NRRL B-24484, as well as the identification and annotation of their biosynthetic gene clusters. Unexpectedly, the arrangement of the newly discovered biosynthetic gene clusters is starkly different from the previously published one, despite the nearly identical structures of D8 and D9 simocyclinones. The gene inactivation and expression studies have disproven the role of a modular polyketide synthase (PKS) system in the assembly of the linear dicarboxylic acid. Instead, the new stand-alone ketosynthase genes were shown to be involved in the biosynthesis of the tetraene chain. Additionally, we identified the gene responsible for the conversion of simocyclinone D9 (2, SD9) into D8.

SimC7 Is a Novel NAD(P)H-Dependent Ketoreductase Essential for the Antibiotic Activity of the DNA Gyrase Inhibitor Simocyclinone

Simocyclinone D8 (SD8) is a potent DNA gyrase inhibitor produced by Streptomyces antibioticus Tü6040. The simocyclinone (sim) biosynthetic gene cluster has been sequenced and a hypothetical biosynthetic pathway has been proposed. The tetraene linker in SD8 was suggested to be the product of a modular type I polyketide synthase working in trans with two monofunctional enzymes. One of these monofunctional enzymes, SimC7, was proposed to supply a dehydratase activity missing from two modules of the polyketide synthase. In this study, we report the function of SimC7. We isolated the entire ~ 72-kb sim cluster on a single phage artificial chromosome clone and produced simocyclinone heterologously in a Streptomyces coelicolor strain engineered for improved antibiotic production. Deletion of simC7 resulted in the production of a novel simocyclinone, 7-oxo-SD8, which unexpectedly carried a normal tetraene linker but was altered in the angucyclinone moiety. We demonstrate that SimC7 is an NAD(P)H-dependent ketoreductase that catalyzes the conversion of 7-oxo-SD8 into SD8. 7-oxo-SD8 was essentially inactive as a DNA gyrase inhibitor, and the reduction of the keto group by SimC7 was shown to be crucial for high-affinity binding to the enzyme. Thus, SimC7 is an angucyclinone ketoreductase that is essential for the biological activity of simocyclinone.

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The ~ 75-kb simocyclinone biosynthetic cluster was expressed in a heterologous system.

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SimC7 is a novel NAD(P)H-dependent ketoreductase.

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SimC7 function is essential for the antibiotic activity of the DNA gyrase inhibitor simocyclinone.

Progress challenges and opportunities for the re-engineering of trans-AT polyketide synthases

Polyketides are a structurally and functionally diverse family of bioactive natural products that are used extensively as pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. In bacteria these molecules are biosynthesized by giant, multi-functional enzymatic complexes, termed modular polyketide synthases (PKSs), that function in assembly-line like fashion to fuse and tailor simple carboxylic acid monomers into a vast array of elaborate chemical scaffolds. Modifying PKSs through targeted synthase re-engineering is a promising approach for accessing functionally-optimized polyketides. Due to their highly mosaic architectures the recently identified trans-AT family of modular synthases appear inherently more amenable to re-engineering than their well studied cis-AT counterparts. Here, we review recent progress in the re-engineering of trans-AT PKSs, summarize opportunities for harnessing the biosynthetic potential of these systems, and highlight challenges that such re-engineering approaches present.

Dithiolopyrrolone natural products: isolation, synthesis and biosynthesis

Dithiolopyrrolones are a class of antibiotics that possess the unique pyrrolinonodithiole (4H-[1,2] dithiolo [4,3-b] pyrrol-5-one) skeleton linked to two variable acyl groups. To date, there are approximately 30 naturally occurring dithiolopyrrolone compounds, including holomycin, thiolutin, and aureothricin, and more recently thiomarinols, a unique class of hybrid marine bacterial natural products containing a dithiolopyrrolone framework linked by an amide bridge with an 8-hydroxyoctanoyl chain linked to a monic acid. Generally, dithiolopyrrolone antibiotics have broad-spectrum antibacterial activity against various microorganisms, including Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, and even parasites. Holomycin appeared to be active against rifamycin-resistant bacteria and also inhibit the growth of the clinical pathogen methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus N315. Its mode of action is believed to inhibit RNA synthesis although the exact mechanism has yet to be established in vitro. A recent work demonstrated that the fish pathogen Yersinia ruckeri employs an RNA methyltransferase for self-resistance during the holomycin production. Moreover, some dithiolopyrrolone derivatives have demonstrated promising antitumor activities. The biosynthetic gene clusters of holomycin have recently been identified in S. clavuligerus and characterized biochemically and genetically. The biosynthetic gene cluster of thiomarinol was also identified from the marine bacterium Pseudoalteromonas sp. SANK 73390, which was uniquely encoded by two independent pathways for pseudomonic acid and pyrrothine in a novel plasmid. The aim of this review is to give an overview about the isolations, characterizations, synthesis, biosynthesis, bioactivities and mode of action of this unique family of dithiolopyrrolone natural products, focusing on the period from 1940s until now.

Structures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis FadD10 protein reveal a new type of adenylate-forming enzyme

Mycobacterium tuberculosis has a group of 34 FadD proteins that belong to the adenylate-forming superfamily. They are classified as either fatty acyl-AMP ligases (FAALs) or fatty acyl-CoA ligases based on sequence analysis. FadD10, involved in the synthesis of a virulence-related lipopeptide, was mis-annotated as a fatty acyl-CoA ligase; however, it is in fact a FAAL that transfers fatty acids to an acyl carrier protein (Rv0100). In this study, we have determined the structures of FadD10 in both the apo-form and the complexed form with dodecanoyl-AMP, where we see for the first time an adenylate-forming enzyme that does not adopt a closed conformation for catalysis. Indeed, this novel conformation of FadD10, facilitated by its unique inter-domain and intermolecular interactions, is critical for the enzyme to carry out the acyl transfer onto Rv0100 rather than coenzyme A. This contradicts the existing model of FAALs that rely on an insertion motif for the acyltransferase specificity and thus makes FadD10 a new type of FAAL. We have also characterized the fatty acid preference of FadD10 through biological and structural analyses, and the data indicate long chain saturated fatty acids as the biological substrates of the enzyme.

Identification of the biosynthetic gene cluster for the antibiotic polyketide L-155,175 in Streptomyces hygroscopicus

The antibiotic L-155,175, a potent antiparasitic and antifungal compound, has an unusual structure involving 16-membered macrolides that contain a tetrahydropyran ring connected through a three-carbon linker chain. To identify the biosynthetic gene cluster for L-155,175, a genomic DNA library of Streptomyces hygroscopicus ATCC31955 was constructed and screened with a degenerate primer set designed from a conserved region of the ketosynthase (KS) domain. Sequence analysis of a fosmid clone, pEY1D8 (34 kb), revealed multiple open reading frames (ORFs) encoding type I polyketide synthase (PKS). To determine whether the cloned genes are involved in L-155,175 biosynthesis, a deletion mutant (1D8m) was generated by homologous recombination, in which the gene encoding the KS domain was substituted with an apramycin-resistance gene by PCR-targeted Streptomyces gene replacement. LC-MS analysis showed that L-155,175 production was completely abolished in the 1D8m strain, thereby proving that the cloned gene is responsible for L-155,175 biosynthesis. The sequencing of two other fosmid clones (pEY8B10 and pEY1C9) harboring overlapping sequences from pEY1D8 revealed a 60-kb DNA segment encoding six ORFs for type I PKS harboring 12 modules. The domain organization of the PKS modules encoded by PKS exactly matched the structure of L-155,175. This is the first report on the gene cluster involved in the biosynthesis of L-155,175.

Characterization of the amicetin biosynthesis gene cluster from Streptomyces vinaceusdrappus NRRL 2363 implicates two alternative strategies for amide bond formation

Amicetin, an antibacterial and antiviral agent, belongs to a group of disaccharide nucleoside antibiotics featuring an α-(1→4)-glycoside bond in the disaccharide moiety. In this study, the amicetin biosynthesis gene cluster was cloned from Streptomyces vinaceusdrappus NRRL 2363 and localized on a 37-kb contiguous DNA region. Heterologous expression of the amicetin biosynthesis gene cluster in Streptomyces lividans TK64 resulted in the production of amicetin and its analogues, thereby confirming the identity of the ami gene cluster. In silico sequence analysis revealed that 21 genes were putatively involved in amicetin biosynthesis, including 3 for regulation and transportation, 10 for disaccharide biosynthesis, and 8 for the formation of the amicetin skeleton by the linkage of cytosine, p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), and the terminal (+)-α-methylserine moieties. The inactivation of the benzoate coenzyme A (benzoate-CoA) ligase gene amiL and the N-acetyltransferase gene amiF led to two mutants that accumulated the same two compounds, cytosamine and 4-acetamido-3-hydroxybenzoic acid. These data indicated that AmiF functioned as an amide synthethase to link cytosine and PABA. The inactivation of amiR, encoding an acyl-CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase, resulted in the production of plicacetin and norplicacetin, indicating AmiR to be responsible for attachment of the terminal methylserine moiety to form another amide bond. These findings implicated two alternative strategies for amide bond formation in amicetin biosynthesis.

An artificial pathway to 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid allows generation of new aminocoumarin antibiotic recognized by catechol transporters of E. coli

An artificial operon was synthesized, consisting of the genes for chorismate pyruvate-lyase of E. coli and for 4-hydroxybenzoate 3-hydroxylase of Corynebacterium cyclohexanicum. This operon, directing the biosynthesis of 3,4-dihdroxybenzoate, was expressed in the heterologous expression host Streptomyces coelicolor M512, together with a modified biosynthetic gene cluster for the aminocoumarin antibiotic clorobiocin. The resulting strain produced a clorobiocin derivative containing a 3,4-dihdroxybenzoyl moiety. Its structure was confirmed by MS and NMR analysis, and it was found to be a potent inhibitor of the gyrases from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Bioassays against different E. coli mutants suggested that this compound is actively imported by catechol siderophore transporters in the cell envelope. This study provides an example of the structure of a natural product that can be rationally modified by synthetic biology.

A natural plasmid uniquely encodes two biosynthetic pathways creating a potent anti-MRSA antibiotic

BACKGROUND

Understanding how complex antibiotics are synthesised by their producer bacteria is essential for creation of new families of bioactive compounds. Thiomarinols, produced by marine bacteria belonging to the genus Pseudoalteromonas, are hybrids of two independently active species: the pseudomonic acid mixture, mupirocin, which is used clinically against MRSA, and the pyrrothine core of holomycin.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

High throughput DNA sequencing of the complete genome of the producer bacterium revealed a novel 97 kb plasmid, pTML1, consisting almost entirely of two distinct gene clusters. Targeted gene knockouts confirmed the role of these clusters in biosynthesis of the two separate components, pseudomonic acid and the pyrrothine, and identified a putative amide synthetase that joins them together. Feeding mupirocin to a mutant unable to make the endogenous pseudomonic acid created a novel hybrid with the pyrrothine via "mutasynthesis" that allows inhibition of mupirocin-resistant isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, the mupirocin target. A mutant defective in pyrrothine biosynthesis was also able to incorporate alternative amine substrates.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE

Plasmid pTML1 provides a paradigm for combining independent antibiotic biosynthetic pathways or using mutasynthesis to develop a new family of hybrid derivatives that may extend the effective use of mupirocin against MRSA.

Characterization of FdmV as an amide synthetase for fredericamycin A biosynthesis in Streptomyces griseus ATCC 43944

Fredericamycin (FDM) A is a pentadecaketide natural product that features an amide linkage. Analysis of the fdm cluster from Streptomyces griseus ATCC 43944, however, failed to reveal genes encoding the types of amide synthetases commonly seen in natural product biosynthesis. Here, we report in vivo and in vitro characterizations of FdmV, an asparagine synthetase (AS) B-like protein, as an amide synthetase that catalyzes the amide bond formation in FDM A biosynthesis. This is supported by the findings that (i) inactivation of fdmV in vivo afforded the ΔfdmV mutant strain SB4027 that abolished FDM A and FDM E production but accumulated FDM C, a biosynthetic intermediate devoid of the characteristic amide linkage; (ii) FdmV in vitro catalyzes conversion of FDM C to FDM B, a known intermediate for FDM A biosynthesis (apparent K(m) = 162 ± 67 μM and k(cat) = 0.11 ± 0.02 min(-1)); and (iii) FdmV also catalyzes the amidation of FDM M-3, a structural analog of FDM C, to afford amide FDM M-6 in vitro, albeit at significantly reduced efficiency. Preliminary enzymatic studies revealed that, in addition to the common nitrogen sources (L-Gln and free amine) of class II glutamine amidotransferases (to which AS B belongs), FdmV can also utilize L-Asn as a nitrogen donor. The amide bond formation in FDM A biosynthesis is proposed to occur after C-8 hydroxylation but before the carbaspirocycle formation.

Genetic engineering of antibiotic biosynthesis for the generation of new aminocoumarins

The aminocoumarin antibiotics novobiocin, clorobiocin and coumermycin A(1) are inhibitors of gyrase and highly effective antibacterial agents. Their biosynthetic gene clusters have been cloned from the respective Streptomyces producer strains, and the function of nearly all genes contained therein has been elucidated by genetic and biochemical methods. Efficient methods have been developed for the genetic manipulation and the heterologous expression of the clusters, and more than 100 new derivatives of these antibiotics have been generated by metabolic engineering, mutasynthesis and chemoenzymatic synthesis, providing a model for the power of genetic and genomic methods for the generation of new bioactive compounds.

Aminocoumarins mutasynthesis, chemoenzymatic synthesis, and metabolic engineering

The aminocoumarin antibiotics novobiocin, clorobiocin and coumermycin A(1) are formed by different Streptomyces strains and are potent inhibitors of bacterial gyrase. Their biosynthetic gene clusters have been analyzed in detail by genetic and biochemical investigations. Heterologous expression of these gene clusters by site-specific integration into the genome of the fully sequenced host Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) readily results in an accumulation of the antibiotics in yields similar to the wildtype strains. In recent years, the aminocoumarins have developed into a model system for the generation of new antibiotics by genetic methods. Prior to heterologous expression in S. coelicolor, cosmids containing the complete biosynthetic clusters can be manipulated in Escherichia coli by lambda RED-mediated recombination, creating single or multiple gene replacements or gene deletions. Thereby, mutant strains are generated which are blocked in the synthesis of certain intermediates or in specific tailoring reactions. For instance, mutasynthetic experiments can subsequently be carried out to generate aminocoumarin antibiotics that contain modified acyl moieties attached to the aminocoumarin core, and chemoenzymatic synthesis can be employed for the acylation of the deoxysugar moiety of structural analogues of the aminocoumarin antibiotics. Metabolic engineering-the combination of gene deletions and foreign gene expression via replicative expression vectors-can be used to generate further structural variants of these antibiotics. These methods can be combined, allowing the generation of a wide variety of new compounds. This chapter may provide general pointers for the use of genetic methods in the generation of new antibiotics.

The evolution of gene collectives: How natural selection drives chemical innovation

DNA sequencing has become central to the study of evolution. Comparing the sequences of individual genes from a variety of organisms has revolutionized our understanding of how single genes evolve, but the challenge of analyzing polygenic phenotypes has complicated efforts to study how genes evolve when they are part of a group that functions collectively. We suggest that biosynthetic gene clusters from microbes are ideal candidates for the evolutionary study of gene collectives; these selfish genetic elements evolve rapidly, they usually comprise a complete pathway, and they have a phenotype-a small molecule-that is easy to identify and assay. Because these elements are transferred horizontally as well as vertically, they also provide an opportunity to study the effects of horizontal transmission on gene evolution. We discuss known examples to begin addressing two fundamental questions about the evolution of biosynthetic gene clusters: How do they propagate by horizontal transfer? How do they change to create new molecules?

New aminocoumarin antibiotics derived from 4-hydroxycinnamic acid are formed after heterologous expression of a modified clorobiocin biosynthetic gene cluster

Three new aminocoumarin antibiotics, termed ferulobiocin, 3-chlorocoumarobiocin and 8'-dechloro-3-chlorocoumarobiocin, were isolated from the culture broth of a Streptomyces coelicolor M512 strain expressing a modified clorobiocin biosynthetic gene cluster. Structural analysis showed that these new aminocoumarins were very similar to clorobiocin, with a substituted 4-hydroxycinnamoyl moieties instead of the prenylated 4-hydroxybenzoyl moiety of clorobiocin. The possible biosynthetic origin of these moieties is discussed.

Improved mutasynthetic approaches for the production of modified aminocoumarin antibiotics

This study reports improved mutasynthetic approaches for the production of aminocoumarin antibiotics. Previously, the mutasynthetic production of aminocoumarins with differently substituted benzoyl moieties was limited by the substrate specificity of the amide synthetase CloL. We expressed two amide synthetases with different substrate specificity, CouL and SimL, in appropriately engineered producer strains. After feeding of precursor analogs that were not accepted by CloL, but by SimL or CouL, a range of aminocoumarins, unattainable in our previous experiments, was produced and isolated in preparative amounts. Further, we developed a two-stage mutasynthesis procedure for the production of hybrid antibiotics that showed the substitution pattern of novobiocin in the aminocoumarin moiety and that of clorobiocin in the deoxysugar moiety. The substitution pattern of the benzoyl moiety was determined by external addition of an appropriate precursor. Twenty-five aminocoumarin compounds were prepared by these methods, and their structures were elucidated with mass and 1H-NMR spectroscopy.

Structure, activity, synthesis and biosynthesis of aryl-C-glycosides

The focus of this review is to highlight the structure, bioactivity and biosynthesis of naturally occurring aryl-C-glycosides. General synthetic methods and their relevance to proposed biochemical mechanisms for the aryl-C-glycoside bond formation are also presented.