Thiazoline ring formation in bacitracin biosynthesis

UVC- and UVC/H2O2-Driven nonribosomal peptide antibiotics degradation: application to zinc bacitracin as a complex emerging contaminant

Zinc bacitracin (Zn-Bc) belongs to the group of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics (NRPA), comprising a mixture of non-biodegradable congeners characterized by complex structures containing cyclic, polycyclic, and branched chains. However, reports on the use of AOPs for the degradation of NRPA are non-existent. In this context, the present work investigated the photodegradation of Zn-Bc in aqueous solution by direct photolysis and the UVC/H₂O₂ process. The effects of the specific UVC photon emission rate and initial H₂O₂ concentration were studied following a Doehlert-design response surface approach. The results showed that all congeners photolyzed at the highest UVC doses in the absence of hydrogen peroxide, with a calculated quantum yield of 0.0141 mol Zn-Bc mol photons^-1. However, no TOC removal was observed after 120 minutes of irradiation, suggesting the disruption of the peptide bonds in the antibiotic molecules without significant changes in the amino acid residues. The addition of H₂O₂ substantially accelerated Zn-Bc photodegradation, resulting in a remarkable removal of up to 71% of TOC. Most importantly, the antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus could be completely removed by both treatments. These findings point out that the UVC/H₂O₂ process can be straightly engineered for the treatment of metalloantibiotics-containing wastewater in pharmaceutical facilities.

Structure and function of "metalloantibiotics"

Although most antibiotics do not need metal ions for their biological activities, there are a number of antibiotics that require metal ions to function properly, such as bleomycin (BLM), streptonigrin (SN), and bacitracin. The coordinated metal ions in these antibiotics play an important role in maintaining proper structure and/or function of these antibiotics. Removal of the metal ions from these antibiotics can cause changes in structure and/or function of these antibiotics. Similar to the case of "metalloproteins," these antibiotics are dubbed "metalloantibiotics" which are the title subjects of this review. Metalloantibiotics can interact with several different kinds of biomolecules, including DNA, RNA, proteins, receptors, and lipids, rendering their unique and specific bioactivities. In addition to the microbial-originated metalloantibiotics, many metalloantibiotic derivatives and metal complexes of synthetic ligands also show antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-neoplastic activities which are also briefly discussed to provide a broad sense of the term "metalloantibiotics."

Metal binding and structure-activity relationship of the metalloantibiotic peptide bacitracin

Bacitracin is a widely used metallopeptide antibiotic produced by Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis with a potent bactericidal activity directed primarily against Gram-positive organisms. This antibiotic requires a divalent metal ion such as Zn(2+) for its biological activity, and has been reported to bind several other transition metal ions, including Mn(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), and Cu(2+). Despite the widespread use of bacitracin since its discovery in the early 1940s, the structure-activity relationship of this drug has not been established and the coordination chemistry of its metal complexes was not fully determined until recently. This antibiotic has been suggested to influence cell functioning through more than one route. Since bacterial resistance against bacitracin is still rare despite several decades of widespread use, this antibiotic can serve as an ideal lead for the design of potent peptidyl antibiotics lacking bacterial resistance. In this review, the results of physical (including NMR, EPR, and EXAFS) and molecular biological studies regarding the synthesis and structure of bacitracin, the coordination chemistry of its metal derivatives, the mechanism of its antibiotic actions, its influence on membrane function, and its structure and function relationship are discussed.

The bacitracin biosynthesis operon of Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 10716: molecular characterization of three multi-modular peptide synthetases

BACKGROUND

The branched cyclic dodecylpeptide antibiotic bacitracin, produced by special strains of Bacillus, is synthesized nonribosomally by a large multienzyme complex composed of the three bacitracin synthetases BA1, BA2 and BA3. These enzymes activate and incorporate the constituent amino acids of bacitracin by a thiotemplate mechanism in a pathway driven by a protein template. The biochemical features of these enzymes have been studied intensively but little is known about the molecular organization of their genes.

RESULTS

The entire bacitracin synthetase operon containing the genes bacA-bacC was cloned and sequenced, identifying a modular structure typical of peptide synthetases. The bacA gene product (BA1, 598kDa) contains five modules, with an internal epimerization domain attached to the fourth; bacB encodes BA2 (297kDa), and has two modules and a carboxy-terminal epimerization domain; bacC encodes BA3, five modules (723kDa) with additional internal epimerization domains attached to the second and fourth. A carboxy-terminal putative thioesterase domain was also detected in BA3. A putative cyclization domain was found in BA1 that may be involved in thiazoline ring formation. The adenylation/thioester-binding domains of the first two BA1 modules were overproduced and the detected amino-acid specificity coincides with the first two amino acids in bacitracin. Disruption of chromosomal bacB resulted in a bacitracin-deficient mutant.

CONCLUSIONS

The genes encoding the bacitracin synthetases BA1, BA2 and BA3 are organized in an operon, the structure of which reflects the modular architecture expected of peptide synthetases. In addition, a putative thiazoline ring formation domain was identified in the BA1 gene.

X-Ray structure of the antibiotic bacitracin A

Bacitracins are a group of widely used peptide antibiotics. There has been interest in determining the three-dimensional structure of the bacitracins. However, solution studies indicate significant flexibility in their structure and to date native bacitracins have resisted attempts at crystallisation despite considerable efforts over a number of years by several groups. Here we report the first three-dimensional X-ray structure of a bacitracin, complexed to a subtilisin proteinase. X-Ray diffraction data were collected using synchrotron radiation in combination with the Image Plate Scanner system. The complex structure including two enzymes, two bacitracins, 220 water molecules and two Ca2+ ions was refined by restrained least-squares to a crystallographic R factor ( = sigma [[Fo-Fc]]/sigma [Fo]]) of 16.3% at 2.0 A.

Nonribosomal biosynthesis of peptide antibiotics

Peptide antibiotics are known to contain non-protein amino acids, D-amino acids, hydroxy acids, and other unusual constituents. In addition they may be modified by N-methylation and cyclization reactions. Their biosynthetic origin has been connected in many cases to an enzymatic system referred to as the 'thiotemplate multienzymic mechanism'. This mechanism includes the activation of the constituent residues as adenylates on the enzymic template, the acylation of specific template thiol groups, epimerization or N-methylation at this thioester stage, and polymerization in the sequence directed by the multienzymic structure with the aid of 4'-phosphopantetheine as a cofactor, including possible cyclization or terminal modification reactions. The reaction sequences leading to gramicidin S, tyrocidine, cyclosporine, bacitracin, polymyxin, actinomycin, enniatin, beauvericin, delta-(L-alpha-aminoadipyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine and linear gramicidin are discussed. The structures of the multienzymes, their genetic organization, the biological functions of these peptides and results on related systems are discussed.

Further evidence for the presence of a thiazoline ring in the isoleucylcysteine dipeptide intermediate in bacitracin biosynthesis

Isoleucylcysteine dipeptide, a first intermediate peptide in bacitracin biosynthesis, was liberated from the enzyme protein and oxidized with manganese dioxide in dimethylsulfoxide. The resulting oxidation product was identified by thin-layer chromatography as 2-(2-methyl-l-oxobutyl)-thiazole-4-carboxylic acid which has been isolated from the hydrolysate of bacitracin F. This result shows that the intermediate dipeptide contains a thiazoline ring, and that the thiazoline ring is synthesized at the dipeptide stage in the process of peptide chain elongation in bacitracin biosynthesis. Improbability of non-enzymatic dehydrative cyclization of the dipeptide is discussed.