Organophosphonic acids are unique as natural products in terms of stability and mimicry. The C-P bond that defines these compounds resists hydrolytic cleavage, while the phosphonyl group is a versatile mimic of transition-states, intermediates, and primary metabolites. This versatility may explain why a variety of organisms have extensively explored the use organophosphonic acids as bioactive secondary metabolites. Several of these compounds, such as fosfomycin and bialaphos, figure prominently in human health and agriculture. The enzyme reactions that create these molecules are an interesting mix of chemistry that has been adopted from primary metabolism as well as those with no chemical precedent. Additionally, the phosphonate moiety represents a source of inorganic phosphate to microorganisms that live in environments that lack this nutrient; thus, unusual enzyme reactions have also evolved to cleave the C-P bond. This review is a comprehensive summary of the occurrence and function of organophosphonic acids natural products along with the mechanisms of the enzymes that synthesize and catabolize these molecules.

Kinetic and structural analyses of 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid (HOPDA) hydrolase from Burkholderia xenovorans LB400 (BphD LB400 ) provide insight into the catalytic mechanism of this unusual serine hydrolase. Single turnover stopped-flow analysis at 25 °C showed that the enzyme rapidly (1/τ 1 ∼ 500 s −1 ) transforms HOPDA (λ max = 434 nm) to a species with electronic absorption maxima at 473 and 492 nm. The absorbance of this enzyme-bound species (E:S) decayed in a biphasic manner (1/τ 2 = 54 s −1 , 1/τ 3 = 6 s −1 ∼ k cat ) with simultaneous biphasic appearance (48 and 8 s −1 ) of an absorbance band at 270 nm characteristic of one of the products, 2-hydroxypenta-2,4-dienoic acid (HPD). Increasing solution viscosity with glycerol slowed 1/τ 1 and 1/τ 2 , but affected neither 1/τ 3 nor k cat , suggesting that 1/τ 2 may reflect diffusive HPD dissociation, while 1/τ 3 represents an intramolecular event. Product inhibition studies suggested that the other product, benzoate, is released after HPD. Contrary to studies in a related hydrolase, we found no evidence that ketonized HOPDA is partially released prior to hydrolysis, and therefore postulate that the biphasic kinetics reflect one of two mechanisms, pending assignment of E:S (λ max = 492 nm). Crystal structures of wild type, the S112C variant, and S112C incubated with HOPDA were each determined to 1.6 Å resolution. The latter reveals interactions between conserved active site residues and the dienoate moiety of the substrate. Most notably, the catalytic residue His265 is hydrogenbonded to the 2-hydroxy/oxo substituent of HOPDA, consistent with a role in catalyzing ketonization. The data are more consistent with an acyl-enzyme mechanism than with the formation of a gem-diol intermediate.The microbial degradation of aromatic compounds is crucial to maintaining the global carbon cycle (1). Aerobic degradation typically involves oxygenation of the aromatic ring to produce a catechol followed by a dioxygenase-catalyzed ring-opening reaction. In one type of degradation pathway, ring-opening yields a meta-cleavage product (MCP) 1 . A serine hydrolase † This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (Discovery Grant) and the National Institutes of Health (GM-52381).*To whom correspondence should be addressed: Lindsay D. Eltis, leltis@interchange.ubc.ca, Phone: (604) Fax: (604)822 −6041. § These authors contributed equally to this work. ¶ Present addresses: JK: University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506, USA; SD: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, CO 80206; SS: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada 1 Abbreviations: MCP, meta-cleavage product; HPD, 2-hydroxy-penta-2,4-dienoic acid; PCB, polychlorinated biphenyl; HOPDA, 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid; DHB, 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl; DHBD, dihydroxybiphenyl dioxygenase; S k , ketonized substrate; E:S k , enzyme-bound ketonized substrate; P...

In the recently identified cholesterol catabolic pathway of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoate hydrolase (HsaD) is proposed to catalyze the hydrolysis of a carbon-carbon bond in 4,5-9,10-diseco-3-hydroxy-5,9,17-tri-oxoandrosta-1(10),2-diene-4-oic acid (DSHA), the cholesterol meta-cleavage product (MCP) and has been implicated in the intracellular survival of the pathogen. Herein, purified HsaD demonstrated 4 -33 times higher specificity for DSHA (k cat /K m ‫؍‬ 3.3 ؎ 0.3 ؋ 10 4 M ؊1 s ؊1 ) than for the biphenyl MCP 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid (HOPDA) and the synthetic analogue 8-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-hydroxy-5-methyl-6-oxoocta-2,4-dienoic acid (HOPODA), respectively. The S114A variant of HsaD, in which the active site serine was substituted with alanine, was catalytically impaired and bound DSHA with a K d of 51 ؎ 2 M. The S114A⅐DSHA species absorbed maximally at 456 nm, 60 nm red-shifted versus the DSHA enolate. Crystal structures of the variant in complex with HOPDA, HOPODA, or DSHA to 1.8 -1.9 Å indicate that this shift is due to the enzyme-induced strain of the enolate. These data indicate that the catalytic serine catalyzes tautomerization. A second role for this residue is suggested by a solvent molecule whose position in all structures is consistent with its activation by the serine for the nucleophilic attack of the substrate. Finally, the ␣-helical lid covering the active site displayed a ligand-dependent conformational change involving differences in side chain carbon positions of up to 6.7 Å , supporting a two-conformation enzymatic mechanism. Overall, these results provide novel insights into the determinants of specificity in a mycobacterial cholesterol-degrading enzyme as well as into the mechanism of MCP hydrolases.Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the leading cause of bacterial mortality, causing an estimated 2 million deaths/year (1). The mechanisms underlying the remarkable ability of this pathogen to survive for long periods of time within the host are poorly understood (2). Although it was well known that saprophytic mycobacteria could metabolize cholesterol (3), it was only recently demonstrated that pathogenic strains can also utilize this nutrient as a growth substrate (4, 5). Interestingly, cholesterol has been found in high concentrations within caseating granulomas in both humans and mice (6, 7), and bacteria have been observed congregating around cholesterol foci (7). Highlighting the importance of cholesterol in bacterial pathogenesis, the deletion of genes involved in cholesterol metabolism reduces the virulence of M. tuberculosis (5,8). Therefore, further knowledge of cholesterol metabolism in M. tuberculosis is crucial to our understanding of bacterial virulence.M. tuberculosis catabolizes cholesterol using a metabolic pathway similar to that identified in Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 (4, 9). In this pathway, the aerobic degradation of the fourringed steroid nucleus occurs through the opening of ring B, aromatization of ring A, and hydroxyla...

Enediynes are potent antitumor antibiotics that are classified as 9- or 10-membered according to the size of the enediyne core structure. However, almost nothing is known about enediyne core biosynthesis, and the determinants of 9- versus 10-membered enediyne core biosynthetic divergence remain elusive. Previous work identified enediyne-specific polyketide synthases (PKSEs) that can be phylogenetically distinguished as being involved in 9- versus 10-membered enediyne biosynthesis, suggesting that biosynthetic divergence might originate from differing PKSE chemistries. Recent in vitro studies have identified several compounds produced by the PKSE and associated thioesterase (TE), but condition-dependent product profiles make it difficult to ascertain a true catalytic difference between 9- and 10-membered PKSE-TE systems. Here we report that PKSE chemistry does not direct 9- versus 10-membered enediyne core biosynthetic divergence as revealed by comparing the products from three 9-membered and two 10-membered PKSE-TE systems under identical conditions using robust in vivo assays. Three independent experiments support a common catalytic function for 9- and 10-membered PKSEs by the production of a heptaene metabolite from: ( i ) all five cognate PKSE-TE pairs in Escherichia coli ; ( ii ) the C-1027 and calicheamicin cognate PKSE-TEs in Streptomyces lividans K4-114; and ( iii ) selected native producers of both 9- and 10-membered enediynes. Furthermore, PKSEs and TEs from different 9- and 10-membered enediyne biosynthetic machineries are freely interchangeable, revealing that 9- versus 10-membered enediyne core biosynthetic divergence occurs beyond the PKSE-TE level. These findings establish a starting point for determining the origins of this biosynthetic divergence.