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Nonribosomal peptides produced by minimal and engineered synthetases with terminal reductase domains
(2020)
Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) use terminal reductase domains for 2‐electron reduction of the enzyme‐bound thioester releasing the generated peptides as C‐terminal aldehydes. Herein, we reveal the biosynthesis of a pyrazine that originates from an aldehyde‐generating minimal NRPS termed ATRed in entomopathogenic Xenorhabdus indica. Reductase domains were also investigated in terms of NRPS engineering and, although no general applicable approach was deduced, we show that they can indeed be used for the production of similar natural and unnatural pyrazinones.
Natural products (NPs) from microorganisms have been important sources for discovering new therapeutic and chemical entities. While their corresponding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) can be easily identified by gene-sequence-similarity-based bioinformatics strategies, the actual access to these NPs for structure elucidation and bioactivity testing remains difficult. Deletion of the gene encoding the RNA chaperone, Hfq, results in strains losing the production of most NPs. By exchanging the native promoter of a desired BGC against an inducible promoter in Δhfq mutants, almost exclusive production of the corresponding NP from the targeted BGC in Photorhabdus, Xenorhabdus and Pseudomonas was observed including the production of several new NPs derived from previously uncharacterized non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). This easyPACId approach (easy Promoter Activated Compound Identification) facilitates NP identification due to low interference from other NPs. Moreover, it allows direct bioactivity testing of supernatants containing secreted NPs, without laborious purification.
Several members of the genus Legionella cause Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially debilitating form of pneumonia. Studies frequently focus on the abundant number of virulence factors present in this genus. However, what is often overlooked is the role of secondary metabolites from Legionella. Following whole genome sequencing, we assembled and annotated the Legionella parisiensis DSM 19216 genome. Together with 14 other members of the Legionella, we performed comparative genomics and analysed the secondary metabolite potential of each strain. We found that Legionella contains a huge variety of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that are potentially making a significant number of novel natural products with undefined function. Surprisingly, only a single Sfp-like phosphopantetheinyl transferase is found in all Legionella strains analyzed that might be responsible for the activation of all carrier proteins in primary (fatty acid biosynthesis) and secondary metabolism (polyketide and non-ribosomal peptide synthesis). Using conserved active site motifs, we predict some novel compounds that are probably involved in cell-cell communication, differing to known communication systems. We identify several gene clusters, which may represent novel signaling mechanisms and demonstrate the natural product potential of Legionella.