Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Ministry of Education of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China.
Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2021 May 11;87(11). doi: 10.1128/AEM.02525-20.
Cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs) catalyze the formation of cyclodipeptides using aminoacylated tRNAs as the substrates and have great potential in the production of diverse 2,5-diketopiperazines (2,5-DKPs). Genome mining of NRRL B-24963 revealed a two-gene locus, , encoding CDPS SazA and a unique fused enzyme (SazB) harboring two domains: phytoene synthase-like prenyltransferase (PT) and methyltransferase (MT). Heterologous expression of the gene(s) in J1074 led to the production of four prenylated indole alkaloids, among which streptoazines A to C (compounds 3 to 5) are new compounds. Expression of different gene combinations showed that the SazA catalyzes the formation of (l-Trp-l-Trp) (cWW; compound 1), followed by consecutive prenylation and methylation by SazB. Biochemical assays demonstrated that SazB is a bifunctional enzyme, catalyzing sequential C-3/C-3' prenylation(s) by SazB-PT and N-1/N-1' methylation(s) by SazB-MT. Of note, the substrate selectivity of SazB-PT and SazB-MT was probed, revealing the stringent specificity of SazB-PT but relative flexibility of SazB-MT. Natural products with a 2,5-diketopiperazine (2,5-DKP) skeleton have long sparked interest in drug discovery and development. Recent advances in microbial genome sequencing have revealed that the potential of cyclodipeptide synthase (CDPS)-dependent pathways encoding new 2,5-DKPs are underexplored. In this study, we report the genome mining of a new CDPS-encoding two-gene operon and activation of this cryptic gene cluster through heterologous expression, leading to the discovery of four indole 2,5-DKP alkaloids. The (l-Trp-l-Trp) (cWW)-synthesizing CDPS SazA and the unusual prenyltransferase (PT)-methyltransferase (MT) fused enzyme SazB were characterized. Our results expand the repertoire of CDPSs and associated tailoring enzymes, setting the stage for accessing diverse prenylated alkaloids using synthetic biology strategies.
环二肽合酶(CDPS)以氨酰化 tRNA 为底物催化环二肽的形成,在多种 2,5-二酮哌嗪(2,5-DKP)的生产中具有巨大潜力。NRRL B-24963 的基因组挖掘揭示了一个由两个基因座编码的 CDPS SazA 和一个独特融合酶(SazB)的基因座,该融合酶含有两个结构域:类番茄红素合酶的 prenyltransferase(PT)和甲基转移酶(MT)。在 J1074 中异源表达 基因导致产生了四种 prenylated 吲哚生物碱,其中 streptoazines A 至 C(化合物 3 至 5)是新化合物。不同基因组合的表达表明,SazA 催化(l-Trp-l-Trp)(cWW;化合物 1)的形成,然后由 SazB 连续 prenylation 和 methylation。生化测定表明,SazB 是一种双功能酶,通过 SazB-PT 催化连续的 C-3/C-3'prenylation(s),通过 SazB-MT 催化 N-1/N-1' methylation(s)。值得注意的是,探测了 SazB-PT 和 SazB-MT 的底物选择性,揭示了 SazB-PT 的严格特异性,但 SazB-MT 的相对灵活性。具有 2,5-二酮哌嗪(2,5-DKP)骨架的天然产物长期以来一直引起药物发现和开发的兴趣。微生物基因组测序的最新进展表明,编码新 2,5-DKP 的环二肽合酶(CDPS)依赖性途径的潜力尚未得到充分探索。在这项研究中,我们报告了一个新的 CDPS 编码双基因操纵子的基因组挖掘,并通过异源表达激活了这个隐匿的基因簇,从而发现了四种吲哚 2,5-DKP 生物碱。(l-Trp-l-Trp)(cWW)合成 CDPS SazA 和不寻常的 prenyltransferase(PT)-methyltransferase(MT)融合酶 SazB 得到了表征。我们的结果扩展了 CDPS 及其相关修饰酶的功能,为使用合成生物学策略获得各种 prenylated 生物碱奠定了基础。