NeoI represents a group of transcriptional repressors regulating the biosynthesis of multiple aminoglycosides.

In general, the initiation or closure of antibiotic biosynthesis is determined by regulatory proteins, but most of their mechanisms of action remain unknown. The 2-deoxystreptamine-containing aminoglycosides (2-DOS AGs) form a unique category among antibiotics. Genomic analysis revealed that a group of hypothetical regulatory genes represented by neoI are widely distributed in the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) of natural products from Streptomyces species, including several 2-DOS AGs. Only limited knowledge is available for the roles of NeoI-type regulators although neomycin and some of the related AGs have been developed as therapeutic drugs for decades. This study focuses on the functional determination of neoI and its homologues situated in the BGCs of six AGs. We found that the yield of neomycin in neoI disruption mutant (ΔneoI) increased by 50% compared to the wild-type (WT) strain ((420.6±44.1) mg L), while it was partially restored by the complementation of neoI, demonstrating that NeoI acted as a repressor in neomycin biosynthesis. Further electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) and DNase I footprinting assays indicated that NeoI could specifically bind to the promoter region between neoE and neoI with conserved nucleotides (5'-CVHYMRCHDKAGYGGACR-3'), as determined by site-directed mutagenesis. Interestingly, cross-bindings of the NeoI homologues from the six different BGCs to their corresponding DNA targets were manifested, and the five exogenous NeoI homologues could complement NeoI function of repressing neomycin biosynthesis. Our results suggested that NeoI-type regulators represent widespread and conservative regulatory characteristics in the biosynthesis of 2-DOS AGs, which would be significant for optimizing the biosynthetic pathways of valuable commercialized aminoglycoside antibiotics.