Spinosyn, a potent insecticide, is a novel tetracyclic polyketide decorated with D-forosamine and tri-O-methyl-L-rhamnose. Spinosyn rhamnosyltransferase (SpnG) is a key biocatalyst with unique sequence identity and controls the biosynthetic maturation of spinosyn. The rhamnose is critical for the spinosyn insecticidal activity and cell wall biosynthesis of the spinosyn producer, Saccharopolyspora spinosa. In this study, we have functionally expressed and characterized SpnG and the three enzymes, Gdh, Epi, and Kre, responsible for dTDP-L-rhamnose biosynthesis in S. spinosa by purified enzymes from Escherichia coli. Most notably, the substrate specificity of SpnG was thoroughly characterized by kinetic and inhibition experiments using various NDP sugar analogs made by an in situ combination of NDP-sugar-modifying enzymes. SpnG was found to exhibit striking substrate promiscuity, yielding corresponding glycosylated variants. Moreover, the critical residues presumably involved in catalytic mechanism of Gdh and SpnG were functionally evaluated by site-directed mutagenesis. The information gained from this study has provided important insight into molecular recognition and mechanism of the enzymes, especially SpnG. The results have made possible the structureactivity characterization of SpnG, as well as the use of SpnG or its engineered form to serve as a combinatorial tool to make spinosyn analogs with altered biological activities and potency.Spinosad, a mixture of spinosyns A and D (ϳ85 and 15%, respectively) produced by the actinomycete Saccharopolyspora spinosa, has been proven highly effective against many chewing insect pests and designated as a reduced risk pesticide excellent in both environmental and mammalian toxicological considerations (1). Spinosyns have thus attracted increasing efforts on structural modifications to improve their insecticidal activity as well as to prevent possible resistance problems (2, 3). Structurally, spinosyns are novel glycosylated macrolides consisting of a 21-carbon tetracyclic lactone decorated with tri-O-methyl-Lrhamnose and D-forosamine (see Scheme 1). The tetracyclic aglycone scaffold is delicately constructed first by type I polyketide (PK-I) 2 synthases, followed by proposed postmodification events, including FAD-oxidation at C-15, Michael addition between C-3 and C-14, ␥-dehydration at C-11, and Diels-Alder cyclization (4, 5). The spinosyn biosynthesis genes recently cloned and sequenced are located in an ϳ80-kb cluster of the S. spinosa genome, except that the four genes involved in L-rhamnose (L-Rha) biosynthesis, gtt (NDP-glucose synthase), gdh (NDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase), epi (NDP-4-keto-6-deoxyglucose epimerase), and kre (NDP-4-ketorhamnose reductase), are located in three different regions of the genome (6). Previous genetic experiments have suggested that the polyketide aglycone is biosynthesized prior to immediate attachment of L-Rha by the rhamnosyltransferase SpnG, followed by consecutive tri-O-methylation of the L-Rha on resulting spinosyn rhamnosyl pseudoa...