Biosynthesis of Prodigiosin, a Secondary Metabolite of Serratia marcescens

Abstract

Prodigiosenes (prodigiosin and prodigiosin-like pigments) are known to be synthesized by only one genus of Eubacteriales and by two genera of Actinomycetales. Biosynthesis by Serratia marcqscens occurs over a relatively narrow range of temperatures, although the bacteria grow over a broad range. When cultures of S. marcescens were incubated at 27 C in 1.0% casein hydrolysate, viable count and protein attained maximal values within 24 to 48 h, whereas prodigiosin did not reach a maximum until 96 h. The greatest amount of pigment was synthesized when cultures were in the senescent phase of growth. Suspensions of nonproliferating bacteria incubated at 27 C in only i-alanine also synthesized prodigiosin, although at a slower rate than growing cultures. Kinetics of growth for the wild-type, red S. marcescens and a white mutant were identical when incubated at 27 C, but the wild type produced abundant pigment. These results plus other data obtained from the literature suggest that prodigiosin is a secondary metabolite. The importance of this proposal to understanding the function of prodigiosin in S. marcescens is discussed.

The chitinolytic machinery of Serratia marcescens – a model system for enzymatic degradation of recalcitrant polysaccharides

“…Production of chitobiase is induced by both GlcNAc and (GlcNAc) 2 and during chitin degradation the enzyme is both secreted into the medium and retained in the periplasm [23,98]. An S. marcescens mutant lacking the chitobiase grows better on GlcNAc than on (GlcNAc) 2 showing that the bacterium depends on chitobiase for optimal utilization of chitin [98]. Chitobiase may also be important to alleviate possible (product) inhibition of the chitinases by (GlcNAc) 2 , although available data indicate that such product inhibition is not very strong (mM range) [99].…”

Biosynthesis of the red antibiotic, prodigiosin, in Serratia: identification of a novel 2‐methyl‐3‐n‐amyl‐pyrrole (MAP) assembly pathway, definition of the terminal condensing enzyme, and implications for undecylprodigiosin biosynthesis in Streptomyces

“…Although the condensation reaction can occur spontaneously at low pH, in bacteria this reaction occurs by a temperature-sensitive enzymatic reaction (Rapoport and Holden, 1962;Williams et al ., 1965;Fürstner, 2003). The precursors for prodigiosin were shown to be acetate, serine, alanine, methionine and proline (Williams, 1973).…”

Biosynthesis of antibiotic prodiginines in the marine bacterium Hahella chejuensis KCTC 2396

“…Generally, several other actinomycete strains are likely to be able to produce two analogous pigments in a single cell, one of which has an alternative cyclic side chain converted from a linear form by an oxidative cyclization reaction within the cell (Wasserman et al 1966(Wasserman et al , 1969Gerber 1969Gerber , 1970Tsao et al 1985). Williams (1973) rationalized that the ability to produce these cyclic compounds might be characteristic of actinomycetes.…”