Cyclodimerization of Mohangamide A by Thioesterase Domain Is Directed by Substrates.

Mohangamide A is a pseudo-dimeric nonribosomal peptide biosynthesized along with its monomer, WS9326A, and is expected to be formed by the head-to-tail cyclodimerization of linear WS9326A and another identical peptide chain with a different acyl side chain. In vitro experiments with the N-acetylcysteamine thioesters of the corresponding monomeric intermediates and thioesterase domains of Streptomyces sp. SNM55 and S. calvus showed that this cyclodimerization reaction is directed by the substrate structures and occurs only with both linear intermediates.

Nyuzenamide C, an Antiangiogenic Epoxy Cinnamic Acid-Containing Bicyclic Peptide from a Riverine Streptomyces sp.

A new nonribosomal peptide, nyuzenamide C (1), was discovered from riverine sediment-derived Streptomyces sp. DM14. Comprehensive analysis of the spectroscopic data of nyuzenamide C (1) revealed that 1 has a bicyclic backbone composed of six common amino acid residues (Asn, Leu, Pro, Gly, Val, and Thr) and four nonproteinogenic amino acid units, including hydroxyglycine, ß-hydroxyphenylalanine, p-hydroxyphenylglycine, and 3,ß-dihydroxytyrosine, along with 1,2-epoxypropyl cinnamic acid. The absolute configuration of 1 was proposed by J-based configuration analysis, the advanced Marfey's method, quantum mechanics-based DP4 calculations, and bioinformatic analysis of its nonribosomal peptide synthetase biosynthetic gene cluster. Nyuzenamide C (1) displayed antiangiogenic activity in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and induced quinone reductase in murine Hepa-1c1c7 cells.

Unprecedented Noncanonical Features of the Nonlinear Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase Assembly Line for WS9326A Biosynthesis.

Systematic inactivation of nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) domains and translocation of the thioesterase (TE) domain revealed several unprecedented nonlinear NRPS assembly processes during the biosynthesis of the cyclodepsipeptide WS9326A in Streptomyces sp. SNM55. First, two sets of type ΙΙ TE (TEΙΙ)-like enzymes mediate the shuttling of activated amino acids between two sets of stand-alone adenylation (A)-thiolation (T) didomain modules and an "A-less" condensation (C)-T module with distinctive specificities and flexibilities. This was confirmed by the elucidation of the affinities of the A-T didomains for the TEΙΙs and its structure. Second, the C-T didomain module operates iteratively and independently from other modules in the same protein to catalyze two chain elongation cycles. Third, this biosynthetic pathway includes the first example of module skipping, where the interpolated C and T domains are required for chain transfer.

One-Pot Combinatorial Biosynthesis of Glycosylated Anthracyclines by Cocultivation of Streptomyces Strains Producing Aglycones and Nucleotide Deoxysugars.

Anthracyclines, such as doxorubicin, are effective anticancer drugs composed of a tetracyclic polyketide aglycone and one or more deoxysugar moieties, which play a critical role in their biological activity. A facile one-pot combinatorial biosynthetic system was developed for the generation of a range of glycosylated derivatives of anthracyclines. Cocultivation of Streptomyces venezuelae mutants producing two anthracycline aglycones with eight different nucleotide deoxysugar-producing S. venezuelae mutants that coexpress a substrate-flexible glycosyltransferase led to the generation of 16 aklavinone or ε-rhodomycinone glycosides containing diverse deoxysugar moieties, seven of which are new. This demonstrates the potential of the one-pot combinatorial biosynthetic system based on cocultivation as a facile biological tool capable of combining diverse aglycones and deoxysugars to generate structurally diverse polyketides carrying engineered sugars for drug discovery and development.

Engineered biosynthesis of milbemycins in the avermectin high-producing strain Streptomyces avermitilis.

BACKGROUND: Milbemycins, produced from Streptomyces hygroscopicus subsp. aureolacrimosus and Streptomyces bingchenggensis, are 16-membered macrolides that share structural similarity with avermectin produced from Streptomyces avermitilis. Milbemycins possess strong acaricidal, insecticidal, and anthelmintic activities but low toxicity. Due to the high commercial value of the milbemycins and increasing resistance to the avermectins and their derivatives, it is imperative to develop an efficient combinatorial biosynthesis system exploiting an overproduction host strain to produce the milbemycins and novel analogs in large quantities. RESULTS: The respective replacement of AveA1 and AveA3 (or module 7 in AveA3) of the avermectin polyketide synthase (PKS) in the avermectin high-producing strain S. avermitilis SA-01 with MilA1 and MilA3 (or module 7 in MilA3) of the milbemycin PKS resulted in the production of milbemycins A3, A4, and D in small amounts and their respective C5-O-methylated congener milbemycins B2, B3, and G as major products with total titers of approximately 292 mg/l. Subsequent inactivation of the C5-O-methyltransferase AveD led to a production of milbemycins A3/A4 (the main components of the commercial product milbemectin) in approximately 225 and 377 mg/l in the flask and 5 l fermenter culture, respectively, along with trace amounts of milbemycin D. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that milbemycin biosynthesis can be engineered in the avermectin-producing S. avermitilis by combinatorial biosynthesis with only a slight decrease in its production level. Application of a similar strategy utilizing higher producing industrial strains will provide a more efficient combinatorial biosynthesis system based on S. avermitilis for further enhanced production of the milbemycins and their novel analogs with improved insecticidal potential.

Characterization of the Two Methylation Steps Involved in the Biosynthesis of Mycinose in Tylosin.

The S-adenosyl-l-methionine-dependent O-methyltransferases TylE and TylF catalyze the last two methylation reactions in the tylosin biosynthetic pathway of Streptomyces fradiae. It has long been known that the TylE-catalyzed C2‴-O-methylation of the 6-deoxy-d-allose bound to demethylmacrocin or demethyllactenocin precedes the TylF-catalyzed C3‴-O-methylation of the d-javose (C2‴-O-methylated 6-deoxy-d-allose) attached to macrocin or lactenocin. This study reveals the unexpected substrate promiscuity of TylE and TylF responsible for the biosynthesis of d-mycinose (C3‴-O-methylated d-javose) in tylosin through the identification of a new minor intermediate 2‴-O-demethyldesmycosin (2; 3‴-methyl-demethyllactenocin), which lacks a 2‴-O-methyl group on the mycinose moiety of desmycosin, along with 2‴-O-demethyltylosin (1; 3‴-methyl-demethylmacrocin) that was previously detected from the S. fradiae mutant containing a mutation in the tylE gene. These results unveil the unique substrate flexibility of TylE and TylF and demonstrate their potential for the engineered biosynthesis of novel glycosylated macrolide derivatives.