Identification and expression of the gene encoding phosphonopyruvate decarboxylase of Streptomyces hygroscopicus.

The first step of C-P compound biosynthesis is a C-P bond formation reaction catalyzed by phosphoenolpyruvate phosphomutase, but this reaction favors the cleavage of the C-P bond. This C-P bond forming reaction is driven by the following reaction catalyzed by phosphonopyruvate (PnPy) decarboxylase. We have cloned and sequenced the gene (bcpC) encoding PnPy decarboxylase, a key enzyme of C-P compound biosynthesis, from the bialaphos (BA) producing microorganism Streptomyces hygroscopicus by complementation methods using Streptomyces wedmorensis NP-7, which is a mutant of a fosfomycin producing strain deficient in this step. The location of this gene in the BA biosynthetic gene cluster was determined by using the expression system in Streptomyces lividans. DNA sequencing of this gene revealed a 1203-bp open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 401 amino acids.

A new, iterative strategy of oligosaccharide synthesis based on highly reactive beta-bromoglycosides derived from selenoglycosides.

Stereoselective conversion of a selenoglycoside to a beta-bromoglycoside in the absence of a glycosyl acceptor followed by the coupling with another selenoglycoside affords the corresponding glycosylated selenoglycoside, which could be directly used for the next glycosylation. The iteration of this sequence allows the synthesis of a variety of oligosaccharides including an elicitor active heptasaccharide. [reaction: see text]

Mutants blocked in streptomycin production in Streptomyces griseus - the role of A-factor.

Ninety-five streptomycin-nonproducing mutants derived from Streptomyces griseus FT-1 by UV-irradiation could be classified into major two classes by cosynthesis tests. Class I mutants (42 strains) were mutants blocked in the pathway of streptomycin biosynthesis while class II mutants (49 strains) required a factor for streptomycin biosynthesis which was excreted by the parental or class I mutant strains. The factor could be replaced by synthetic A-factor (2S-isocapryloyl-3-S-hydroxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone) which restored both streptomycin biosynthesis and spore formation in the class II mutants. A-Factor deficient mutants were obtained from several strains of S. griseus and S. bikiniensis at high frequency by treatment with acridine orange or incubation at high temperature. A mutant whose streptomycin biosynthesis was independent of A-factor deficiency was found. The production of A-factor was distributed among various species of actinomycetes.

Induction of streptomycin-inactivating enzyme by A-factor in Streptomyces griseus.

The effect of A-factor on streptomycin resistance and productivity in Streptomyces griseus and S. bikiniensis was studied using A-factor-negative mutants. Resistance of several of these mutants was markedly increased by adding A-factor to the growing medium, as also was their streptomycin productivity. The A-factor induced resistance was due to inactivation by streptomycin-6-phosphotransferase, and enzyme synthesis in these mutants was completely dependent on the presence of A-factor. In the case of S. griseus 2247 where streptomycin productivity was independent of A-factor, resistance and synthesis of the inactivating enzyme were also independent of A-factor. A-Factor-negative mutants of S. griseus showed a decreased level of NADP-glycohydrolase and an increased level of several NADP-linked dehydrogenases, but these enzymes did not return to parental levels in cultures supplemented with A-factor. A-Factor seems to regulate streptomycin biosynthesis, not through an indirect metabolic sequence involving these enzymes but, more likely, by directly stimulating synthesis of enzyme(s) in the biosynthetic pathway.

Cloning of midecamycin(MLS)-resistance genes from Streptomyces mycarofaciens, Streptomyces lividans and Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2).

DNA containing genes for midecamycin(Mdm)-resistance was cloned from Streptomyces mycarofaciens ATCC 21454 (mdmA gene), Streptomyces lividans 66 (lrm gene) and Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). The phenotype imparted to S. lividans and Streptomyces griseofuscus transformants by the cloned DNA segments indicates that they encode an MLS-type of resistance activity. The mdmA and lrm genes could be distinguished by the phenotype they conferred in S. lividans and S. griseofuscus, whereas the S. lividans lrm and S. coelicolor MLS genes appears to be identical on the basis of their restriction maps and behavior in S. lividans and S. griseofuscus. The DNA sequence of a 1.4-kb BamH I DNA fragment containing the mdmA gene indicates the presence of one complete orf whose deduced product exhibits a high similarity to the deduced product of the Streptomyces thermotolerans carB gene and several other bacterial MLS-resistance genes.

Studies on the biosynthesis of bialaphos. Biochemical mechanism of C-P bond formation: discovery of phosphonopyruvate decarboxylase which catalyzes the formation of phosphonoacetaldehyde from phosphonopyruvate.

The biosynthetic step following the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) phosphomutase reaction which forms a C-P bond of bialaphos was proven by the identification of phosphonopyruvate (PnPy) and phosphonoacetaldehyde (PnAA) as intermediates in the culture broth of Streptomyces hygroscopicus, a producing organism of bialaphos, and by detection of enzymatic decarboxylation of PnPy to PnAA. Purified PnPy decarboxylase turned out to require thiamine diphosphate and Mg2+ as cofactors. PnPy decarboxylase drives the unfavorable forward reaction to form PnPy catalyzed by PEP phosphomutase and is suggested to be essential to C-P compound biosynthesis.

Cladinose analogues of sixteen-membered macrolide antibiotics. I. Synthesis of 4-O-alkyl-L-cladinose analogues via glycosylation.

The synthesis and biological evaluation of sixteen-membered macrolides possessing a 4-O-alkyl-alpha-L-cladinosyl moiety as the neutral sugar are described. The nine novel derivatives have been synthesized by glycosylation with 1-thio sugars. The most active derivative of them showed prolonged antibacterial activity in rat plasma in vitro and improved pharmacokinetics.

Cladinose analogues of sixteen-membered macrolide antibiotics. VI. Synthesis of metabolically programmed, highly potent analogues of sixteen-membered macrolide antibiotics.

Five novel 3-hydroxyl derivatives of sixteen-membered macrolide possessing 4-O-acyl-alpha-L-cladinose as a neutral sugar moiety were synthesized by using a combination of structurally stable silyl acetal protection and selective hydrogenolysis of a 3"-methylthiomethyl ether to a 3"-OMe group. Several derivatives having n-butyryl, i-butyryl and n-valeryl substituent at the 4"-OH group exhibited significant antibacterial activity in vitro. One of them, 4"-O-n-butyryl-3"-O-methylleucomycin V, showed improved therapeutic effect in mice.

Pyrrolomycin group antibiotics inhibit substance P-induced release of myeloperoxidase from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes.

In order to search for microbial modulators of the activity of neuropeptide, we established a screen based on substance P (SP)-induced myeloperoxidase (MPO) release from human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). SP induced MPO release in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations ranging from 1 approximately 10 x 10(-4) M. In comparison at 1 x 10(-4) M, induction was also observed with SP derivatives but not with other neuropeptides such as neurokinin and enkephalin. Based on this, we searched for microbial inhibitors against SP-induced MPO release. An actinomycete metabolite designated HS3, which turned out to be identical with dioxapyrrolomycin or A1-R2081, and structurally related pyrrolomycins were found to inhibit SP-induced MPO release. In addition, these compounds inhibited the f-Met-Leu-Phe (FMLP)-induced MPO release from PMN. Pyrrolomycin derivatives with an N-methylated pyrrole ring showed, however, a selective inhibition of the SP-induced MPO release. This was in contrast to results with aseanostatin P5 which selectively inhibited FMLP-induced MPO release.

Replacement of Streptomyces hygroscopicus genomic segments with in vitro altered DNA sequences.

We have developed a method for gene replacement in Streptomyces hygroscopicus which permits introduction of an in vitro derived mutation carried on a plasmid into the chromosome. We constructed the plasmid pMSB212 which can replicate in S. hygroscopicus and contains the step5 gene of the bialaphos biosynthetic pathway which was inactivated by a frame-shift mutation caused by filling in the cohesive ends of the EcoR I site in the structural gene. pMSB212 was introduced into a bialaphos producer strain and by protoplast regeneration of the primary thiostrepton-resistant transformants, non-producing mutants, were obtained. Biochemical and genetical analyses indicated that these mutants were specifically blocked by introduction of the frame-shift mutation in the step5 gene on the chromosome. This method will enable us to obtain isogenic mutants of known genes and to identify new genes encoded on a cloned fragment.

The bialaphos biosynthetic genes of Streptomyces hygroscopicus: cloning and analysis of the genes involved in the alanylation step.

We have isolated and studied the genes involved in the alanylation step in the biosynthesis of a herbicide, bialaphos which is produced by Streptomyces hygroscopicus. Three bialaphos-nonproducing mutants, NP60, NP61 and NP62, isolated from S. hygroscopicus by treatment with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine were defective for the alanylation step and were not restored to productivity by any locus of the gene cluster previously cloned. Three plasmids were isolated using NP60, NP61 and NP62 as recipients. The genes which restored productivity to NP61 and NP62 hybridized to the contiguous region of the bialaphos biosynthetic gene cluster. The gene cluster involved in the bialaphos production was about 35 kb long. The gene which restored productivity to NP60 did not hybridize to the bialaphos biosynthetic gene cluster. VM3 and VM4, putative alanylation blocked mutants, were derived from a bialaphos producer by gene replacement of an unidentified region of the biosynthetic gene cluster with an in vitro altered DNA sequence. The genes which restored productivity to VM3 and VM4 were located between the genes which code for phosphinomethylmalic acid synthase and demethylphosphinothricin acetyltransferase in the cluster. These results suggest that multiple genes are involved in the alanylation step.

The bialaphos resistance gene (bar) plays a role in both self-defense and bialaphos biosynthesis in Streptomyces hygroscopicus.

We inactivated the bialaphos (BA) resistance gene (bar) of a BA producer, Streptomyces hygroscopicus, by the gene replacement technique. The resulting BA-sensitive mutant (Bar-) was able to produce little BA but considerable amount of an intermediate demethylphosphinothricin (DMPT). The Bar- mutant was still able to convert the N-acetyl derivative (AcDMPT) of DMPT to BA. Introduction of normal bar containing plasmid restored both BA resistance and BA biosynthesis to levels as high as the parental BA producer. By contrast, introducing a multi copy glutamine synthetase gene (glnA) into the Bar- mutant restored BA resistance but not BA production. Thus, the bar gene plays a crucial role in both self-defense and a step of BA biosynthesis in the BA-producing S. hygroscopicus.

Cladinose analogues of sixteen-membered macrolide antibiotics. IV. Improved therapeutic effects of 4-O-acyl-L-cladinose analogues of sixteen-membered macrolide antibiotics.

Six derivatives of sixteen-membered macrolides possessing 4-O-acyl-alpha-L-cladinose as a neutral sugar were synthesized via 3"-methylthiomethyl ether intermediates in reasonable yield. Introduction of a methyl group on the 3"-hydroxyl group of midecamycin A1 was effective for enhancing its antibacterial activity. All these derivatives exhibited excellent therapeutic effects in mice, and some of them showed improved pharmacokinetics compared with the natural antibiotics (mycarose type) in mice. Facile synthesis of 9-O-acylated analogues are also described.

[Effect of epidural buprenorphine on postoperative respiratory function].

The effects of epidural buprenorphine on postoperative respiratory function were studied using respiratory inductive plethysmography (RIP) in two groups of patients [(1) 0.1 mg (2) 0.2 mg] after upper abdominal surgery. Buprenorphine 0.1 mg group showed decreased respiratory rate and increased tidal volume. Decreases in the respiratory rate and the tidal volume were seen in buprenorphine 0.2 mg group and continued for 3-4 hrs after the epidural administration. However, there was no severe respiratory depression in either group. It seems that 0.1 mg of epidural buprenorphine may give a satisfactory postoperative pain relief and less respiratory depression, and RIP is a useful method for the measurement of postoperative respiratory function.

[Preoperative radiotherapy of carcinoma of the stomach and breast].

Sixty-one patients with gastric cancer and thirty-seven with breast cancer who had undergone preoperative radiotherapy were analysed retrospectively for assessment of various radiotherapeutic effects and prognosis. Most of the sixty-one patients with gastric cancer were found to be stage III or more with borderline operable lesions on admission. Of the sixty-one patients, sixteen were evaluated postoperatively to be stage I by histopathological examination. The 3-year survival rate in these sixteen patients was an admirable 60%. Of the thirty-seven patients with breast cancer, the 3-year survival rate among twenty-four in Stage III exceeded 90%. This survival rate is very high in comparison with other reports. For radiotherapy we adopted a less-fractionated irradiation method with a large dose instead of the conventional fractionated one. This irradiation method has not only a direct radiotherapeutic effect, but also produces a favorable effect on the host's immunocompetence. For gastric cancer, twice weekly treatment with 5 Gy and 3 Gy per week, and irradiation twice with 20 Gy and 10 Gy for breast cancer were very suitable preoperative irradiation doses.