Priming of Azabicycle Biosynthesis in the Azinomycin Class of Antitumor Agents.

The biosynthesis of the azabicyclic ring system of the azinomycin family of antitumor agents represents the "crown jewel" of the pathway and is a complex process involving at least 14 enzymatic steps. This study reports on the first biosynthetic step, the inroads, in the construction of the novel aziridino [1,2-a]pyrrolidine, azabicyclic core, allowing us to support a new mechanism for azabicycle formation.

Polyketide Ring Expansion Mediated by a Thioesterase, Chain Elongation and Cyclization Domain, in Azinomycin Biosynthesis: Characterization of AziB and AziG.

The azinomycins are a family of potent antitumor agents with the ability to form interstrand cross-links with DNA. This study reports on the unusual biosynthetic formation of the 5-methyl naphthoate moiety, which is essential for effective DNA association. While sequence analysis predicts that the polyketide synthase (AziB) catalyzes the formation of this naphthoate, 2-methylbenzoic acid, a truncated single-ring product, is formed instead. We demonstrate that the thioesterase (AziG) acts as a chain elongation and cyclization (CEC) domain and is required for the additional two rounds of chain extension to form the expected product.

Activation of cryptic metabolite production through gene disruption: Dimethyl furan-2,4-dicarboxylate produced by Streptomyces sahachiroi.

At least 65% of all small molecule drugs on the market today are natural products, however, re-isolation of previously identified and characterized compounds has become a serious impediment to the discovery of new bioactive natural products. Here, genetic knockout of an unusual non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) C-PCP-C module, aziA2, is performed resulting in the accumulation of the secondary metabolite, dimethyl furan-2,4-dicarboxylate. The cryptic metabolite represents the first non-azinomycin related compound to be isolated and characterized from the soil bacterium, S. sahachiroi. The results from this study suggest that abolishing production of otherwise predominant natural products through genetic knockout may constitute a means to "activate" the production of novel secondary metabolites that would otherwise lay dormant within microbial genome sequences.

Production of 3-O-xylosyl quercetin in Escherichia coli.

Quercetin, a flavonol aglycone, is one of the most abundant flavonoids with high medicinal value. The bioavailability and pharmacokinetic properties of quercetin are influenced by the type of sugars attached to the molecule. To efficiently diversify the therapeutic uses of quercetin, Escherichia coli was harnessed as a production factory by the installation of various plant and bacterial UDP-xylose sugar biosynthetic genes. The genes encoding for the UDP-xylose pathway enzymes phosphoglucomutase (nfa44530), glucose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase (galU), UDP-glucose dehydrogenase (calS8), and UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase (calS9) were overexpressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) along with a glycosyltransferase (arGt-3) from Arabidopsis thaliana. Furthermore, E. coli BL21(DE3)/∆pgi, E. coli BL21(DE3)/∆zwf, E. coli BL21(DE3)/∆pgi∆zwf, and E. coli BL21(DE3)/∆pgi∆zwf∆ushA mutants carrying the aforementioned UDP-xylose sugar biosynthetic genes and glycosyltransferase and the galU-integrated E. coli BL21(DE3)/∆pgi host harboring only calS8, calS9, and arGt-3 were constructed to enhance whole-cell bioconversion of exogeneously supplied quercetin into 3-O-xylosyl quercetin. Here, we report the highest production of 3-O-xylosyl quercetin with E. coli BL21 (DE3)/∆pgi∆zwf∆ushA carrying UDP-xylose sugar biosynthetic genes and glycosyltransferase. The maximum concentration of 3-O-xylosyl quercetin achieved was 23.78 mg/L (54.75 µM), representing 54.75 % bioconversion, which was an ~4.8-fold higher bioconversion than that shown by E. coli BL21 (DE3) with the same set of genes when the reaction was carried out in 5-mL culture tubes with 100 µM quercetin under optimized conditions. Bioconversion was further improved by 98 % when the reaction was scaled up in a 3-L fermentor at 36 h.

Genetic engineering approach for the production of rhamnosyl and allosyl flavonoids from Escherichia coli.

The main functions of glycosylation are stabilization, detoxification and solubilization of substrates and products. To produce glycosylated products, Escherichia coli was engineered by overexpression of TDP-L-rhamnose and TDP-6-deoxy-D-allose biosynthetic gene clusters, and flavonoids were glycosylated by the overexpression of the glycosyltransferase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana. For the glycosylation, these flavonoids (quercetin and kaempferol) were exogenously fed to the host in a biotransformation system. The products were isolated, analyzed and confirmed by HPLC, LC/MS, and ESI-MS/MS analyses. Several conditions (arabinose, IPTG concentration, OD(600), substrate concentration, incubation time) were optimized to increase the production level. We successfully isolated approximately 24 mg/L 3-O-rhamnosyl quercetin and 12.9 mg/L 3-O-rhamnosyl kaempferol upon feeding of 0.2 mM of the respective flavonoids and were also able to isolate 3-O-allosyl quercetin. Thus, this study reveals a method that might be useful for the biosynthesis of rhamnosyl and allosyl flavonoids and for the glycosylation of related compounds.

Biosynthesis of dihydrochalcomycin: characterization of a deoxyallosyltransferase (gerGTI).

Through an inactivation experiment followed by complementation, the gerGTII gene was previously characterized as a chalcosyltransferase gene involved in the biosynthesis of dihydochalcomycin. The glycosyltransferase gerGTI was identified as a deoxyallosyltransferase required for the glycosylation of D-mycinose sugar. This 6-deoxyhexose sugar was converted to mycinose, via bis-O-methylation, following attachment to the polyketide lactone during dihydrochalcomycin biosynthesis. Gene sequence alignment of gerGTI to several glycosyltransferases revealed a consensus sequence motif that appears to be characteristic of the enzymes in this sub-group of the glycosyltransferase family. To characterize its putative function, genetic disruption of gerGTI in the wild-type strain Streptomyces sp. KCTC 0041BP and in the gerGTII-deleted mutant (S. sp. Delta gerGTsss, as well as complementation of gerGTII in S. sp. Delta gerGTss-GTs, were carried out, and the products were analyzed by LC/MS. S. sp. Delta gerGTss-GTs mutant produced dihydrochalconolide macrolide. S. sp. Delta gerGTs and S. sp. Delta gerGTss-GTs complementation of gerGTII yielded dihydrochalconolide without the mycinose sugar. The intermediate shows that gerGTI encodes a deoxyallosyltransferase that acts after gerGTII.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the biological synthesis of 7-O-xylosyl naringenin.

Flavonoids are a group of polyphenolic compounds that have been recognized as important due to their physiological and pharmacological roles and their health benefits. Glycosylation of flavonoids has a wide range of effects on flavonoid solubility, stability, and bioavailability. We previously generated the E. coli BL21 (DE3) Deltapgi host by deleting the glucose-phosphate isomerase (Pgi) gene in E. coli BL21 (DE3). This host was further engineered for whole-cell biotransformation by integration of galU from E. coli K12, and expression of calS8 (UDP-glucose dehydrogenase) and calS9 (UDP-glucuronic acid decarboxylase) from Micromonospora echinospora spp. calichensis and arGt-4 (7-O-glycosyltransferase) from Arabidopsis thaliana to form E. coli (US89Gt-4), which is expected to produce glycosylated flavonoids. To test the designed system, the engineered host was fed with naringenin as a substrate, and naringenin 7-O-xyloside, a glycosylated naringenin product, was detected. Product was verified by HPLCLC/MS and ESI-MS/MS analyses. The reconstructed host can be applied for the production of various classes of glycosylated flavonoids.

Characterization of CalS9 in the biosynthesis of UDP-xylose and the production of xylosyl-attached hybrid compound.

The gene cluster of calicheamicin contains calS9, which encodes UDP-GlcA decarboxylase that converts UDP-GlcA to UDP-xylose. calS9 was cloned in pET32a(+) and expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) to characterize its putative function. The reaction product was analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry. The deoxysugar biosynthesis of Streptomyces sp. KCTC 0041BP was inactivated by gene replacement to generate Streptomyces sp. GerSM2 mutant, which was unable to produce dihydrochalcomycin. calS7, calS8, and calS9 UDP-xylose biosynthetic genes were cloned in an integrative plasmid pSET152 to generate pBPDS, which was heterologously expressed in Streptomyces sp. GerSM2. Finally, novel glycosylated product, 5-O-xylosyl-chalconolide derivative, in the conjugal transformants was isolated and analyzed by HPLC and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Cloning and characterization of CalS7 from Micromonospora echinospora sp. calichensis as a glucose-1-phosphate nucleotidyltransferase.

The deoxysugar biosynthetic gene cluster of calicheamicin contains the calS7, which encodes glucose-1-phosphate nucleotidyltransferase and converts glucose-1-phosphate and nucleotides (NTP) to NDP-glucose and pyrophosphate. calS7 was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3), and the purified protein had significant thymidylyltransferase and uridylyltransferase activities as well, with some guanidylyltransferase activity but negligible cytidyl and adenyltransferase activity. The functions of thymidylyltransferase and uridylyltransferase were also verified using one-pot enzymatic synthesis of TMK and ACK. The products were analyzed by HPLC and ESI/MS, which showed peaks at m/z = 563 and 565 for TDP-D: -glucose and UDP-D-glucose, respectively, in negative mode.