alonomycin (antibiotic K16) 1 (Fig. 1a) is a secondary metabolite with antiprotozoal and antifungal activity, isolated from Streptomyces rimosus paromomycinus 1. Malonomycin is the only known bacterial natural product with an intact aminomalonic acid moiety. While the structure of malonomycin was established some time ago, with l-Ser and l-diaminopropionate (l-Dap) as probable precursors 1-3 , the biosynthetic pathway, including the origin of the unique aminomalonate unit, has remained unexplained. Malonates are key precursors in the biosynthesis of fatty acids and polyketides (Fig. 1b), and are produced by either biotin-dependent acetyl-CoA carboxylases, crotonyl-CoA carboxylase/reductase enzymes or oxidation of glyceryl/serinyl-acyl carrier protein precursors to hydroxy/aminomalonyl-acyl carrier protein thioesters in polyketide synthase (PKS) assembly lines 4. In these examples, decarboxylation of the malonyl thioester intermediates provides the thermodynamic driving force for subsequent carbon-carbon bond formation. It is difficult to envisage how this common biosynthetic logic could account for the aminomalonate moiety of malonomycin.