Biomimetic molecular design tools that learn, evolve, and adapt

• David A Winkler

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1288–1302, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.125

• shows a summary of the experiments ≈500 polymer spots are generated in an array and exposed to GFP transformed pathogenic bacteria. The lower panel shows how the average pathogen attachment decreases markedly (less red, more blue) between the first (left) and third (right) generations of polymers

Total synthesis of elansolids B1 and B2

• Liang-Liang Wang and
• Andreas Kirschning

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1280–1287, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.124

• bacterium Chitinophaga sancti. They show antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria. A second generation total synthesis of the antibiotic elansolid B1 (2) and the first synthesis of elansolid B2 (3) are reported. In contrast to previous work, the (Z,E,Z)-triene at C10–C15 was assembled by using

• Flexibacter spec.) (Figure 1) [1][2]. Elansolid A2 (1*), an atropisomer of elansolid A1 (1), showed antibiotic activity against Gram-positive bacteria in the range of 0.2 to 64 µg/mL and cytotoxicity against L929 mouse fibroblast cells with an IC50 value of 12 µg/mL. Besides these two macrocylic members also

Glycoscience@Synchrotron: Synchrotron radiation applied to structural glycoscience

• Serge Pérez and
• Daniele de Sanctis

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1145–1167, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.114

• to about 1,500. Interestingly, about 60% of them were obtained ligated to carbohydrates, which range from monosaccharides to 10 residue-long oligosaccharides. Lectins occur in plants, animals, algae, bacteria, fungi and yeasts, and viruses. Their involvement in key biologically-important recognition

From chemical metabolism to life: the origin of the genetic coding process

• Antoine Danchin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1119–1135, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.111

• is not a fight against the second principle of thermodynamics), using the global distribution of water molecules as a driving force to order lipids into cell-like structures (of a considerable variety, even in bacteria [12]). Membranes also contain proteins as essential components. It took very long

New tricks of well-known aminoazoles in isocyanide-based multicomponent reactions and antibacterial activity of the compounds synthesized

• Maryna V. Murlykina,
• Maryna N. Kornet,
• Sergey M. Desenko,
• Svetlana V. Shishkina,
• Oleg V. Shishkin,
• Aleksander A. Brazhko,
• Vladimir I. Musatov,
• Erik V. Van der Eycken and
• Valentin A. Chebanov

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1050–1063, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.104

• be less active than nitroxoline (being the reference substance). The antimicrobial effect of the heterocycles studied is different depending on each bacterical strain; however, some rules can be seen. Only a few substances inhibited the growth of Gram-negative bacteria (strains of E. coli and P

• resistance to almost all the compounds tested in the given concentration range. The strain of B. subtilis was found to be sensitive to compounds 4i and 6d, but the bacteriostatic activity was fixed only in the highest concentration 500 mg/L. The information about the influence of the compounds on bacteria is

Glyco-gold nanoparticles: synthesis and applications

• Federica Compostella,
• Olimpia Pitirollo,
• Alessandro Silvestri and
• Laura Polito

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 1008–1021, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.100

• colloidal solution color. Therefore, several biosensors for the detection of proteins [42], lectin [25][27][43], cancer biomarkers [28] and viruses [44][45] were developed. Photoluminescence properties of ultrasmall gold nanoclusters and nanodots have been exploited to detect Escherichia coli (a bacteria

• different bacterial adhesion. Indeed, gold nanorods presented a bacteria detection limit of 0.03 ± 0.01 µg/mL, 80-folds more sensitive than spherical and star shaped AuNPs. This discrepancy has been ascribed to the difference in the relative amount of mannose involved in the NP-bacteria interaction. The

• -antibiotic conjugates, were prepared and resulted able to overcome antibiotic resistance of microbial biofilms, since CA NPs render streptomycin more accessible to biofilms, thereby more available to interact with biofilm bacteria [89]. Similarly, a novel recyclable E.coli-specific killing GAuNP

Aggregation behaviour of a single-chain, phenylene-modified bolalipid and its miscibility with classical phospholipids

• Simon Drescher,
• Vasil M. Garamus,
• Christopher J. Garvey,
• Annette Meister and
• Alfred Blume

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 995–1007, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.99

• bolalipids originate in membranes of some species of archaea, e.g., thermoacidophiles and these archaeal membranes can withstand extreme living conditions, such as high temperatures or low pH values [2][3][4]. Archaea are quite different from bacteria and eukaryotes [5][6][7][8][9], which is also reflected

Use of costic acid, a natural extract from Dittrichia viscosa, for the control of Varroa destructor, a parasite of the European honey bee

• Kalliopi Sofou,
• Demosthenis Isaakidis,
• Apostolos Spyros,
• Anita Büttner,
• Athanassios Giannis and
• Haralambos E. Katerinopoulos

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 952–959, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.96

• in the past [26][27]. Recent findings support the hypothesis that V. destructor associates with bacteria capable of degrading oxalic acid [28]. Crete is a Greek island located in the south-east of Europe. Given the great diversity in the plant species of the flora of Crete, the area is an excellent

Expression, purification and structural analysis of functional GABA transporter 1 using the baculovirus expression system

• Jing Hu,
• Chris Weise,
• Christoph Böttcher,
• Hua Fan and
• Jian Yin

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 874–882, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.88

• independently [33][34]. A similar example is the bacteria homologue LeuT, which was also crystallized as a dimer [13], however, each monomer has its own binding pocket, indicating that the monomers are the functional units. Therefore, a GAT1/GFP fusion protein monomer could be suitable for further structural

First total synthesis of kipukasin A

• Chuang Li,
• Haixin Ding,
• Zhizhong Ruan,
• Yirong Zhou and
• Qiang Xiao

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 855–862, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.86

• group at 2’-OH position. To the best of our knowledge, they are the first naturally occurring aroyl nucleosides reported up to now. The biological assays showed that kipukasin A owned modest activity against Gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213) [11]. During our ongoing biological

Opportunities and challenges for the sustainable production of structurally complex diterpenoids in recombinant microbial systems

• Katarina Kemper,
• Max Hirte,
• Markus Reinbold,
• Monika Fuchs and
• Thomas Brück

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 845–854, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.85

• largest and most structurally diverse group of natural products. They are ubiquitous in bacteria, plants, animals and fungi, conducting several biological functions such as cell wall components or defense mechanisms. Industrial applications entail among others pharmaceuticals, food additives, vitamins

• , fragrances, fuels and fuel additives. Central building blocks of all terpenes are the isoprenoid compounds isopentenyl diphosphate and dimethylallyl diphosphate. Bacteria like Escherichia coli harbor a native metabolic pathway for these isoprenoids that is quite amenable for genetic engineering. Together

• ) derive almost exclusively from plants; terpene synthases and other enzymes that are involved in precursor formation (indicated with green knot) can be obtained from various organisms (indicated through symbolic bacteria, leaf (representing plants in general) and fungi). 2: Eukaryotic enzymes have to be

Synthesis of 1-indanones with a broad range of biological activity

• Marika Turek,
• Dorota Szczęsna,
• Marek Koprowski and
• Piotr Bałczewski

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 451–494, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.48

• antiviral and antifungal molecule produced by bacteria. Because of its interesting biological activity, Mitchell and Liebeskind have decided to synthesize abicoviromycin (168) derivatives [78]. In spite of the potent biological activity, abicoviromycin (168) is extremely heat- and acid-sensitive. Moreover

Solid-phase enrichment and analysis of electrophilic natural products

• Frank Wesche,
• Yue He and
• Helge B. Bode

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 405–409, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.43

• entomopathogenic Photorhabdus bacteria. Keywords: azides; click chemistry; enrichment; electrophilic natural products; epoxides; glidobactin; Photorhabdus; stilbenes; Introduction Microorganisms are a major source for novel natural products and the subsequent development of new drugs for all kinds of

• producing microbes. Much more compounds have been identified than originally thought, but often these are produced only at a very low level. This is also reflected by the genome sequences of bacteria and fungi that often encode numerous biosynthesis gene clusters (BGC) with most of the corresponding natural

• also be applied to extracts of other bacteria, fungi and plants and can give at least hints on new electrophilic natural products, where their reactivity against azide might also reflect their biological activity. (A) HPLC–MS base peak chromatograms of a crude XAD extract of P. luminescens TT01 and

Polyketide stereocontrol: a study in chemical biology

• Kira J. Weissman

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

• biosynthesis of reduced polyketides in bacteria by modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) proceeds with exquisite stereocontrol. As the stereochemistry is intimately linked to the strong bioactivity of these molecules, the origins of stereochemical control are of significant interest in attempts to create

• product structures by gas-chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and liquid chromatography (LC)–MS. Review Biosynthesis of complex polyketides by modular PKSs and stereochemical considerations The reduced or complex class of polyketides is assembled in bacteria by gigantic multienzymes called polyketide

Posttranslational isoprenylation of tryptophan in bacteria

• Masahiro Okada,
• Tomotoshi Sugita and
• Ikuro Abe

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 338–346, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.37

• posttranslational isoprenylation of tryptophan in bacteria. In particular, this review will focus on current findings which have not been available at the time we published a review on this topic previously [3]. Review Posttranslational isoprenylation of cysteine Posttranslational isoprenylation is generally

• because of a high proliferation rate. In the quorum sensing process, bacteria constitutively secrete specific extracellular signaling molecules, called quorum sensing pheromones, to gather information about their cell population density [15][16][17][18]. Various phenomena are stimulated by an increase in

• isoprenyl side chain is an influential factor of the group- (or species-) specific pheromonal activity [25]. Intriguingly, the same applies for group- (or species-) specificity in Gram negative bacteria because the chemical structure and length of the acyl side chain in acylhomoserine lactones, which are

Versatile synthesis of the signaling peptide glorin

• Robert Barnett,
• Daniel Raszkowski,
• Thomas Winckler and
• Pierre Stallforth

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 247–250, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.27

• study the emergence of multicellularity since they can exist in both a unicellular and a multicellular stage with a well-orchestrated developmental cycle linking the two [2]. The unicellular amoebae feed on bacteria and divide by binary fission. Upon depletion of their food source, they aggregate to

• initiated by pulses of chemoattractive, low-molecular weight signaling molecules – so-called acrasins [5]. Additionally, it has been shown that natural products are also involved in interspecies interactions of social amoebae and bacteria [6][7][8][9][10]. A detailed investigation of both inter- and

• signs of aggregation became visible. Cells were washed three times in 17 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.2) to remove bacteria and suspended at 2 × 107 cells/mL in 17 mM phosphate buffer (pH 6.2) with shaking at 150 rpm. After 1 h of starvation, 1 µM glorin (Phoenix Pharmaceuticals, Burlingame CA, USA

Total synthesis of a Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 12F CPS repeating unit hexasaccharide

• Peter H. Seeberger,
• Claney L. Pereira and
• Subramanian Govindan

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2017, 13, 164–173, doi:10.3762/bjoc.13.19

• antibodies that serve as tools for vaccine design [19] and for the detection of pathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis [20][21]. S. pneumoniae 12F CPS consists of hexasaccharide repeating units containing the [→4)-α-L-FucpNAc-(1→3)-β-D-GalpNAc-(1→4)-β-D-ManpNAcA-(1→] polysaccharide backbone with a

First DMAP-mediated direct conversion of Morita–Baylis–Hillman alcohols into γ-ketoallylphosphonates: Synthesis of γ-aminoallylphosphonates

• Marwa Ayadi,
• Haitham Elleuch,
• Emmanuel Vrancken and
• Farhat Rezgui

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2906–2915, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.290

• derivatives were originally isolated from microorganisms [37][38], e.g., the fosmidomycin [39] is as an antimalarial drug that was isolated from broths of bacteria of the genus Streptomyces [40]. The γ-aminophosphonates were prepared through numerous synthetic methods [41][42][43][44][45]. For instance, they

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

• products and are highly effective antibiotics against Gram-positive bacteria, where they affect their function by preventing the correct crosslinking of the peptidoglycan cell wall [1]. Produced by bacteria, these compounds derive their efficacy from their unique three-dimensional structure, which in turn

O-Alkylated heavy atom carbohydrate probes for protein X-ray crystallography: Studies towards the synthesis of methyl 2-O-methyl-L-selenofucopyranoside

• Roman Sommer,
• Dirk Hauck,
• Annabelle Varrot,
• Anne Imberty,
• Markus Künzler and
• Alexander Titz

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2828–2833, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.282

• mushroom Laccaria bicolor (Lb-Tec2) [28], a protein that belongs to the tectonin family of β-propeller lectins and plays an important role in fungal defense against bacteria and nematodes. The determination of the Lb-Tec2 structure by X-ray crystallography promised to be difficult since no suitable model

• -methylated carbohydrate ligands was demonstrated (e.g., 2, Figure 1). O-Methylation of carbohydrates is a rare modification, but widespread in nature as it has been observed in bacteria, protozoa, animals and plants but not in mammals [29][30]. Besides fungal and animal tectonins that recognize O-methylated

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

• ; nonribosomal peptide synthetase; Findings Herpetosiphon aurantiacus is a filamentous, Gram-negative bacterium with a facultative saprophytic predatory behaviour [1][2]. For a more profound insight into the predation strategies among bacteria, along with the underlying chemistry, the complete genome of H

Interactions between cyclodextrins and cellular components: Towards greener medical applications?

• Loïc Leclercq

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2644–2662, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.261

Enduracididine, a rare amino acid component of peptide antibiotics: Natural products and synthesis

• Darcy J. Atkinson,
• Briar J. Naysmith,
• Daniel P. Furkert and
• Margaret A. Brimble

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2325–2342, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.226

• -positive bacteria, including resistant strains [2][9][20] and Mycobacterium species [21]. No activity was observed against Gram-negative bacteria (except for Neisseria gonorrhoeae), fungi or yeast [9]. The antibacterial activity arises through inhibition of cell wall synthesis [22] by prevention of

• , MIC = 15.6 μg/mL) but only weakly active against all other bacteria tested. The structure was confirmed through degradation and partial synthesis [29][30]. Minosaminomycin (9) inhibits protein synthesis in E. coli more effectively than the related antibiotic kasugamycin (10), however, a different

• revised from S to R, upon total synthesis [33]. The mannopeptimycins contain a unique sugar substituted hydroxyenduracididine residue (blue, Figure 5). The mannopeptimycins displayed moderate activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including MRSA, but only exhibited weak activity against Gram-negative

A detailed view on 1,8-cineol biosynthesis by Streptomyces clavuligerus

• Jan Rinkel,
• Patrick Rabe,
• Laura zur Horst and
• Jeroen S. Dickschat

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2317–2324, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.225

• complexity is reached within the largest, the terpenoids. An estimated number of 75,000 different compounds are known from all kinds of organisms including plants [1], bacteria [2][3][4][5], fungi [6] and, as recently shown, even social amoebae [7]. These molecules are all made from only a handful of linear

Evidence for an iterative module in chain elongation on the azalomycin polyketide synthase

• Hui Hong,
• Yuhui Sun,
• Yongjun Zhou,
• Emily Stephens,
• Markiyan Samborskyy and
• Peter F. Leadlay

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2016, 12, 2164–2172, doi:10.3762/bjoc.12.206

• widely present in actinomycete bacteria. Meanwhile, it is clear that the PKS genes in the azl cluster as sequenced are sufficient to accomplish the synthesis of the full-length azalomycin chain, without requiring any contribution from additional PKS enzymes encoded elsewhere in the S. violaceusniger