No abstract

While type II polyketide synthases (PKSs) are known for producing aromatic compounds, a phylogenetically new subfamily of type II PKSs have been recently proposed to synthesize polyene structures. Here we report in vitro analysis of such a type II PKS, IgaPKS for ishigamide biosynthesis. The ketoreductase (Iga13) and dehydratase (Iga16) were shown to catalyze the reduction of a β-keto group and dehydration of a β-hydroxy group, respectively, to form a trans double bond. Incubation of the acyl carrier protein (Iga10), the ketosynthase/chain length factor complex (Iga11-Iga12), Iga13 and Iga16 with malonyl and hexanoyl-CoAs and NADPH followed by KOH hydrolysis resulted in the formation of four unsaturated carboxylic acids (C , C , C , and C ), indicating that IgaPKS catalyzes tetraene formation by repeating the cycle of condensation, keto-reduction and dehydration with strict stereo-specificity. We propose "highly reducing type II PKS subfamily" for the polyene-producing type II PKSs.

Caffeic acid (3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) serves as a building block for thermoplastics and a precursor for biologically active compounds and was recently produced from glucose by microbial fermentation. To produce caffeic acid from inedible cellulose, separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) reactions were compared using kraft pulp as lignocellulosic feedstock. Here, a tyrosine-overproducing Escherichia coli strain was metabolically engineered to produce caffeic acid from glucose by introducing the genes encoding a 4-hydroxyphenyllactate 3-hydroxylase (hpaBC) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and tyrosine ammonia lyase (fevV) from Streptomyces sp. WK-5344. Using the resulting recombinant strain, the maximum yield of caffeic acid in SSF (233 mg/L) far exceeded that by SHF (37.9 mg/L). In the SSF with low cellulase loads (≤2.5 filter paper unit/g glucan), caffeic acid production was markedly increased, while almost no glucose accumulation was detected, indicating that the E. coli cells experienced glucose limitation in this culture condition. Caffeic acid yield was also negatively correlated with the glucose concentration in the fermentation medium. In SHF, the formation of by-product acetate and the accumulation of potential fermentation inhibitors increased significantly with kraft pulp hydrolysate than filter paper hydrolysate. The combination of these inhibitors had synergistic effects on caffeic acid fermentation at low concentrations. With lower loads of cellulase in SSF, less potential fermentation inhibitors (furfural, 5-hydroxymethyfurfural, and 4-hydroxylbenzoic acid) accumulated in the medium. These observations suggest that glucose limitation in SSF is crucial for improving caffeic acid yield, owing to reduced by-product formation and fermentation inhibitor accumulation.

Streptomyces sp. MSC090213JE08 seems to have more than 20 cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters for secondary metabolites. We aimed to activate some of them by forced production of Streptomyces antibiotic regulatory protein (SARP) family transcriptional activators. We constructed seven recombinant strains, each of which contained a SARP gene under the control of a constitutive promoter, and subjected them to comparative metabolic profiling analysis. Four of the seven strains produced nine metabolites that were hardly detected in the control strains. We isolated a new metabolite (named ishigamide) from the SARP-7-expressing strain and determined its structure as 3-((2E,4E,6E,8E)-13-hydroxytetradeca-2,4,6,8-tetraenamido)propanoic acid. Genome scanning and gene disruption studies identified the ishigamide biosynthetic gene cluster adjacent to the SARP-7 gene. We think that a new subfamily of type II polyketide synthase is involved in the biosynthesis of the polyene structure of ishigamide.

While type II polyketide synthases (PKSs) are knownfor producing aromatic compounds,aphylogenetically new subfamily of type II PKSs have been recently proposed to synthesize polyene structures.H ere we report in vitro analysis of such atype II PKS,IgaPKS for ishigamide biosynthesis.The ketoreductase (Iga13) and dehydratase (Iga16) were shown to catalyze the reduction of a b-keto group and dehydration of a b-hydroxy group,r espectively,t of orm atrans double bond. Incubation of the acyl carrier protein (Iga10), the ketosynthase/ chain length factor complex (Iga11-Iga12), Iga13 and Iga16 with malonyl and hexanoyl-CoAs and NADPH followed by KOHhydrolysis resulted in the formation of four unsaturated carboxylic acids (C 8 ,C 10 ,C 12 ,and C 14 ), indicating that IgaPKS catalyzest etraene formation by repeating the cycle of condensation, keto-reduction and dehydration with strict stereospecificity.W epropose "highly reducing type II PKS subfamily" for the polyene-producing type II PKSs.