Substrate specificity of a ketosynthase domain involved in bacillaene biosynthesis

• Zhiyong Yin and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 734–740, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.67

• compound is made through a trans-AT polyketide synthase–non-ribosomal peptide synthase (PKS-NRPS) hybrid [9][10]. Instead of using the classical domain organisation KS-AT-ACP with AT domains integrated into the PKS, trans-AT PKSs utilize discrete ATs that are not an integral part of the PKS, but rather

• presence of two major compounds, bacillaene (1) and dihydrobacillaene (2) (Scheme 1), and allowed for a detailed biosynthetic model [14]. As is typical for trans-AT systems, the bacillaene PKS-NRPS contains several irregular features such as split modules and duplicate ACP domains. Because of the absence

• substrate specificity of such KS domains [20]. Especially the KS domains of a PKS module downstream of an NRPS module need to be able to process unconventional NRPS-derived intermediates [21]. Despite the above mentioned predictability of KS domain substrate specificities, functional testing of KS domains

Chemoenzymatic synthesis of macrocyclic peptides and polyketides via thioesterase-catalyzed macrocyclization

• Senze Qiao,
• Zhongyu Cheng and
• Fuzhuo Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 721–733, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.66

• and multifunctional enzymatic assembly, nonribosomal peptide synthases (NRPS), polyketide synthases (PKS), and hybrid NRPS/PKS systems, which are organized into sets of functional domains known as modules and function through a similar mechanism [9][10][11][12]. Each NRPS module is composed of three

• responsible for the structural diversity of natural products, both NRPS and PKS contain thioesterase (TE) domains in the final elongation module, which contribute to terminating biosynthesis [13][14]. Typically, TE domains cleave the thioester bond between the last PCP or ACP domain and the intermediate of

• -century [32][33][34][35]. Biosynthetically, the corresponding cluster consists of three NRPS, TycA-C, and at the C-terminus of TycC, the TE domain can catalyze a head-to-tail macrocyclization and deliver tyrocidines [30]. With a comprehensive understanding of its biosynthetic mechanism, Walsh and co

New variochelins from soil-isolated Variovorax sp. H002

• Jabal Rahmat Haedar,
• Aya Yoshimura and
• Toshiyuki Wakimoto

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 692–700, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.63

• draft genome sequence of the H002 strain identified the variochelin biosynthetic gene cluster (var), which encodes PKS (polyketide synthase) and NRPS (non-ribosomal peptide synthetase) genes. Finally, the siderophores isolated in this study exhibited antibacterial activity against several bacteria

• , we also identified a var gene cluster containing NRPS and PKS genes: the domain organizations of NRPS and PKS, and the adjacently encoded modification enzymes, were comparable to those of the gene cluster reported by Nett et al. with 92–99% identity at the protein level [5] (Figure 3a and Figure S42

Chemical and biosynthetic potential of Penicillium shentong XL-F41

• Ran Zou,
• Xin Li,
• Xiaochen Chen,
• Yue-Wei Guo and
• Baofu Xu

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 597–606, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.52

• version of antiSMASH 7.0 [25] software for the analysis of the Penicillium shentong XL-F41 genome, we identified 46 BGCs. These include 13 NRPS-like fragments, 6 NRPS, 13 type I PKS, 2 PKS/NRPS hybrids, 1 NI-siderophore, 2 NRP-metallophore/NRPS hybrids, 1 fungal RiPP with POP or UstH peptidase types, 1

• fungal-RiPP-like/T1PKS, 1 betalactone, 1 PKS type I/NRPS/indole hybrid, 1 fungal-RiPP-like/T1PKS hybrid, 1 NRP-metallophore/NRPS hybrid, NRPS-like/terpene/phosphonate hybrids, 3 terpenes, and 1 indole-related cluster (Table 5). BGC 7.3, identified as an indole-type gene cluster, includes genes for

Development of a chemical scaffold for inhibiting nonribosomal peptide synthetases in live bacterial cells

• Fumihiro Ishikawa,
• Sho Konno,
• Hideaki Kakeya and
• Genzoh Tanabe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 445–451, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.39

• ; Introduction Nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) exhibit various biological activities and have been used as therapeutic agents, such as antibiotics, anticancer agents, and immunosuppressants [1]. Additionally, NRPs function as virulence factors, such as siderophores and genotoxins [2]. Therefore, inhibiting their

• biosynthesis by using small molecules can help to elucidate their natural functions and their potential as therapeutic targets. NRPs are synthesized by large, versatile, and multifunctional proteins called nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), which are composed of multiple modules and subdivided domains

• ) domain, consequently resulting in the formation of the final products. Inhibitors that target each domain of NRPSs are valuable for elucidating the biosynthetic pathways associated with bioactive NRPs and for developing antibiotic molecules. Burkart et al. reported a systematic strategy for inhibiting

Discovery of unguisin J, a new cyclic peptide from Aspergillus heteromorphus CBS 117.55, and phylogeny-based bioinformatic analysis of UngA NRPS domains

• Sharmila Neupane,
• Marcelo Rodrigues de Amorim and
• Elizabeth Skellam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2024, 20, 321–330, doi:10.3762/bjoc.20.32

• of the UngA NRPS were analyzed in an attempt to understand the lack of substrate specificity observed. Keywords: adenylation domain; condensation domain; fungal non-ribosomal peptide synthetase; heptapeptide; unguisin biosynthesis; Introduction Unguisins are a small family of fungal cyclic

• small peptides [3][4][9], however, unguisin A has been shown to bind a series of anions [10]. Recently the biosynthesis of unguisins A and B from Aspergillus violaceofuscus CBS 115571 was reported [5]. A seven module non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS; UngA) was heterologously expressed in

• discovered that linearized the cyclic unguisins to linear peptides during in vitro investigations, although the linear peptides were not detected from the fungal cultures. NRPS enzymes are large multifunctional enzymes that often synthesize very important bioactive molecules [11][12]. These enzymes consist

Secondary metabolites of Diaporthe cameroonensis, isolated from the Cameroonian medicinal plant Trema guineensis

• Bel Youssouf G. Mountessou,
• Élodie Gisèle M. Anoumedem,
• Blondelle M. Kemkuignou,
• Yasmina Marin-Felix,
• Frank Surup,
• Marc Stadler and
• Simeon F. Kouam

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2023, 19, 1555–1561, doi:10.3762/bjoc.19.112

• great structural variability such as polyketides, terpenoids, polyketide synthase–nonribosomal peptide synthetase (PKS–NRPS) alkaloids, and cytochalasins, which have been considered as taxonomic markers of the genus [7][8][9][10]. However, it is worthwhile to mention that the name Phomopsis should no

Navigating and expanding the roadmap of natural product genome mining tools

• Friederike Biermann,
• Sebastian L. Wenski and
• Eric J. N. Helfrich

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1656–1671, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.178

• combination of all genome mining approaches will pave the way towards a more comprehensive understanding of the full biosynthetic repertoire encoded in microbial genome sequences. Keywords: genome mining; natural product biosynthesis; non-canonical pathways; PKS; NRPS; RiPP; Introduction In 2002, the genome

• -like pathways are canonical type I cis-acyltransferase polyketide synthases (PKSs) and type A non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) (Figure 2A) [25][26]. The substrate specificity of the specificity conferring domains in each module can be predicted from the sequences of adenylation (A) (for NRPS

• ])) [28]. In contrast, discrete multi-enzymatic assemblies utilize distinct, monofunctional enzymes. Examples are terpene (e.g., cyclooctatin (8) [29]), ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptide (RiPP), or NRPS-independent alkaloid pathways. In the case of terpene biosynthesis

Synthesis of tryptophan-dehydrobutyrine diketopiperazine and biological activity of hangtaimycin and its co-metabolites

• Houchao Xu,
• Anne Wochele,
• Minghe Luo,
• Gregor Schnakenburg,
• Yuhui Sun,
• Heike Brötz-Oesterhelt and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 1159–1165, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.120

• -AT, [3][4]) polyketide synthase (PKS) and non-ribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS) [2] with a dehydrating bimodule [5][6] involved in the installation of the remaining Z-configured double bond within the polyketide backbone [7]. Furthermore, a cytochrome P450 monooxygenase was recently shown to be

Synthesis and late stage modifications of Cyl derivatives

• Phil Servatius and
• Uli Kazmaier

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2022, 18, 174–181, doi:10.3762/bjoc.18.19

• metabolites for self-defense in different microorganisms, peptidic natural products are assembled either by ribosomal synthesis or by non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) [2]. Macrocyclic peptides are pervasive throughout this class of natural products and often show improved stability against proteolytic

Natural products in the predatory defence of the filamentous fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

• Jana M. Boysen,
• Nauman Saeed and
• Falk Hillmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2021, 17, 1814–1827, doi:10.3762/bjoc.17.124

• foundation to understand its role in invasive aspergillosis [113]. In A. fumigatus 13 genes form a 28 kb biosynthetic cluster of gliotoxin, of which gliZ (a zinc-finger transcription factor) and gliP (an NRPS) together with global regulator LaeA regulate its expression at the genomic level [112][114][115

Secondary metabolites of Bacillus subtilis impact the assembly of soil-derived semisynthetic bacterial communities

• Heiko T. Kiesewalter,
• Carlos N. Lozano-Andrade,
• Mikael L. Strube and
• Ákos T. Kovács

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 2983–2998, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.248

• , Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark 10.3762/bjoc.16.248 Abstract Secondary metabolites provide Bacillus subtilis with increased competitiveness towards other microorganisms. In particular, nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) have an enormous antimicrobial potential by causing cell lysis, perforation of fungal membranes

• Lysinibacillus fusiformis M5 exposed to either spent media of the B. subtilis strains or pure surfactin indicated the sensitivity of this strain towards the biosurfactant surfactin. Our study provides a more in-depth insight into the influence of B. subtilis NRPs on semisynthetic bacterial communities and helps

• Bacillus spp. produce various SMs [33][34]. The most prominent and bioactive SMs are nonribosomal peptides (NRPs), of which isoforms belong to the families of surfactins, fengycins, or iturins [35][36] (Figure 1). They are biosynthesised by large enzyme complexes, nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs

Fabclavine diversity in Xenorhabdus bacteria

• Sebastian L. Wenski,
• Harun Cimen,
• Natalie Berghaus,
• Sebastian W. Fuchs,
• Selcuk Hazir and
• Helge B. Bode

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 956–965, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.84

• for bioactive compounds are required, such as the bacterial genera Xenorhabdus or Photorhabdus. In these strains, fabclavines are widely distributed SMs with a broad-spectrum bioactivity. Fabclavines are hybrid SMs derived from nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA

• of fabclavines as major antibiotics in several entomopathogenic strains, our work lays the foundation for the rapid fabclavine identification and dereplication as the basis for future work of this widespread and bioactive SM class. Keywords: antibiotic; fabclavine; NRPS-PKS hybrid; secondary

• ]. Fabclavines are hexapeptide/polyketide hybrids derived from nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) and a polyketide synthase (PKS), which are connected to an unusual polyamine derived from polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) synthases [20]. Beside full-length fabclavines, also shortened derivatives were

Towards the total synthesis of chondrochloren A: synthesis of the (Z)-enamide fragment

• Jan Geldsetzer and
• Markus Kalesse

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2020, 16, 670–673, doi:10.3762/bjoc.16.64

• (Cmc5) by the groups of Höfle and Reichenbach in 2003 [12]. This PKS/NRPS-derived natural product shows only weak antibiotic effects in agar diffusion tests against Micrococcus luteus, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus [12]. The relative and absolute stereochemistry

Chemical synthesis of tripeptide thioesters for the biotechnological incorporation into the myxobacterial secondary metabolite argyrin via mutasynthesis

• David C. B. Siebert,
• Roman Sommer,
• Domen Pogorevc,
• Michael Hoffmann,
• Silke C. Wenzel,
• Rolf Müller and
• Alexander Titz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2922–2929, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.286

• ; mutasynthesis; NRPS; peptide synthesis; Introduction Resistance to antibiotics is currently a major threat to public health. Especially Gram-negative bacterial pathogens are of concern, due to their widespread development of resistance mechanisms. To address this general antimicrobial resistance problem, new

• synthetase (NRPS), mutasynthons often carry thioesters to mimic the natural phosphopantetheinyl conjugate [20]. For the argyrins, the Müller group identified the corresponding biosynthetic gene cluster from Cystobacter sp. SBCb004 [21], studied the biosynthesis (Figure 2) and established a heterologous

• derivatives upon incorporation of synthetically provided tripeptide thioester intermediates, the so called mutasynthons. Mutasynthons are synthesized as SNAc thioesters which mimic the phosphopantetheine (PPant) moiety normally present on the PCP domain of the NRPS. It has been shown by several mutasynthesis

Bacterial terpene biosynthesis: challenges and opportunities for pathway engineering

• Eric J. N. Helfrich,
• Geng-Min Lin,
• Christopher A. Voigt and
• Jon Clardy

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2889–2906, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.283

• thiotemplated assembly lines, such as type I polyketide synthases (PKS) and nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), are modular, with each module contributing a distinct fragment to the final product’s core structure – a short-chain carboxylic acid (PKS) or an amino acid (NRPS). The modularly defined template

• allow for quantitative control of product outcomes, while PKS and NRPS pathways feature qualitative control [40]. The gibberellins (e.g., gibberellin A4 (5), Figure 1) are an extreme example illustrating the promiscuity of terpene biosynthetic pathways with more than 130 different family members

Isolation and biosynthesis of an unsaturated fatty acid with unusual methylation pattern from a coral-associated bacterium Microbulbifer sp.

• Amit Raj Sharma,
• Enjuro Harunari,
• Tao Zhou,
• Agus Trianto and
• Yasuhiro Igarashi

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 2327–2332, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.225

• second report on the small molecule from this underexplored taxon. According to the genome sequence database, biosynthetic genes for NRPS and siderophore are present in Microbulbifer species which will be pursued in our future investigation. Experimental General experimental procedures The UV spectrum

Genomics-inspired discovery of massiliachelin, an agrochelin epimer from Massilia sp. NR 4-1

• Jan Diettrich,
• Hirokazu Kage and
• Markus Nett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 1298–1303, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.128

• homologs in the mic cluster from R. solanacearum GMI1000 [13]. A closer inspection of the loci shows a strong conservation of two core biosynthesis genes, namely micC and micG. On the other hand, the nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene micH is missing in the Massilia locus. As evidenced by

Chemical structure of cichorinotoxin, a cyclic lipodepsipeptide that is produced by Pseudomonas cichorii and causes varnish spots on lettuce

• Hidekazu Komatsu,
• Takashi Shirakawa,
• Takeo Uchiyama and
• Tsutomu Hoshino

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2019, 15, 299–309, doi:10.3762/bjoc.15.27

• assign the D or L configurations for all the amino acids by the feeding experiments. However, we succeeded in proposing the complete stereochemistry of the molecule by careful analysis of the biosynthetic gene cluster (nonribosomal peptide synthetases, NRPS). These results will be reported in due course

Polyketide stereocontrol: a study in chemical biology

• Kira J. Weissman

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 348–371, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.39

Biochemical and structural characterisation of the second oxidative crosslinking step during the biosynthesis of the glycopeptide antibiotic A47934

• Veronika Ulrich,
• Clara Brieke and
• Max J. Cryle

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2849–2864, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.284

• generation GPAs in clinical use are all entirely derived from in vivo biosynthesis [1][2]. The biosynthesis of GPAs is based around the initial synthesis of the linear heptapeptide by a type-I non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) [5][6] and its subsequent modification by cytochrome P450 monooxygenases [7

• by OxyE, which acts between OxyB and OxyA in the cyclisation cascade [27]. In vivo experiments also hinted towards the activity of the Oxy enzymes against the substrate peptides whilst they remain bound to the NRPS [29], and in vitro experiments performed with OxyB from the vancomycin biosynthesis

• NRPS machineries, known as the X-domain [16]. Characterisation of this domain has shown that it is a modified, catalytically inactive condensation-type domain and that this domain is capable of forming 1:1 complexes with the Oxy enzymes from GPA biosynthesis [16]. More importantly, with the exception

A non-canonical peptide synthetase adenylates 3-methyl-2-oxovaleric acid for auriculamide biosynthesis

• Daniel Braga,
• Dirk Hoffmeister and
• Markus Nett

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2766–2770, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.274

• were observed in cultures of H. aurantiacus 114-95T, providing initial evidence for the assumed secondary metabolome of this species [4][5][6]. Within the entire genus, 1 is only the second PKS/NRPS-derived molecule to be described, following the report on siphonazole (2, Figure 1) [7

• provide biochemical evidence for the participation of this unusual NRPS in the biosynthesis of 1. AulA is suggested to incorporate L-isoleucic acid (= 2-hydroxy-3-methylvaleric acid). The domain architecture indicates the substrate undergoes no other chemical modification besides a reductive step after

• requirements of the monomers to be recognised and incorporated to form the product [15][16]. In silico tools to identify the nonribosomal code, namely PKS/NRPS Analysis [17] and NRPSpredictor2 [18], are often accurate for the analysis of bacterial NRPSs. Yet, in our case, none retrieved any result after the

Biosynthesis of oxygen and nitrogen-containing heterocycles in polyketides

• Franziska Hemmerling and
• Frank Hahn

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 1512–1550, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.148

• enzymatic units that introduce nitrogen, we expanded the scope of this article to those products of polyketide synthase–non ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) hybrid systems in which the polyketide portion strongly dominates the overall structure and in which the amino acid nitrogens are incorporated into

• characterised in the pederin (24) and the ambruticin (28) biosynthetic pathways (Scheme 3 and Scheme 4) [14][15]. PedPS7 is a monofunctional pyran synthase (PS) domain that was predicted to catalyse ring formation from an α,β-unsaturated intermediate in the biosynthesis of the PKS–NRPS hybrid product pederin

• –tautomerisation of the 3,5-dioxothioester formed by the final two elongation steps of the aureothin-PKS. Leupyrrins. The leupyrrins (leupyrrin A2 (80) is shown in Scheme 14) are remarkable hybrid natural products consisting of PKS, NRPS and isoprenoid-originating portions. They contain several heterocyclic

Marine-derived myxobacteria of the suborder Nannocystineae: An underexplored source of structurally intriguing and biologically active metabolites

• Antonio Dávila-Céspedes,
• Peter Hufendiek,
• Max Crüsemann,
• Till F. Schäberle and
• Gabriele M. König

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 969–984, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.96

• biologically active PKS/NRPS-derived compound produced by the terrestrial S. cellulosum is the microtubule stabilizer epothilone B, of which the lactam analogue ixabepilone (6) is currently used together with capecitabine (7, Figure 3) in cancer therapy to improve the effectiveness of taxane-resistant

• that large genomes often correlate with the potential for prolific secondary metabolite production by revealing almost 8.6% of the genome to be possibly involved in the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites [36]. Mining this genome for the presence of PKS and NRPS genes exposed 18 biosynthetic clusters

• , with a predominance of hybrid PKS-NRPS systems [37]. M. xanthus strain DK1622 is responsible for the synthesis of metabolites like DKxanthene-534 (8, Figure 4), a pigment required for fruiting body formation and sporulation processes [37] and the siderophore myxochelin A (9), which belongs to a class

Muraymycin nucleoside-peptide antibiotics: uridine-derived natural products as lead structures for the development of novel antibacterial agents

• Daniel Wiegmann,
• Stefan Koppermann,
• Marius Wirth,
• Giuliana Niro,
• Kristin Leyerer and
• Christian Ducho

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 769–795, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.77

• synthetase (NRPS) system appears to be responsible for the assembly of the urea tripeptide building block 105. However, the non-proteinogenic amino acids need to be formed first. It has been proposed that L-arginine (106) undergoes 3-hydroxylation (giving 3-hydroxy-L-arginine (107)) and subsequent ring