Biosynthesis of spectinomycin: heterologous production of spectinomycin and spectinamine in an aminoglycoside-deficient host, Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003

Aims:  To obtain spectinomycin and spectinamine by heterologous expression into the biosynthetic deoxysugar (desosamine) gene-deleted host Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003.
Methods and Results:  The 17-kb spectinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster from Streptomyces spectabilis ATCC 27741 was heterologously expressed into Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003. Furthermore, the speA , speB and spcS2 encoded in the spectinomycin biosynthetic gene cluster of cosmid pSPC8 were also heterologously characterized to be responsible for the production of spectinamine.
Conclusions:  The results of this study indicated that pSPC8 contains all the genes necessary for the biosynthesis of spectinomycin. We also concluded that SpeA, SpeB and SpcS2 are sufficient for the biosynthesis of spectinamine. We also verified that SpeB and SpcS2 show dual character in the biosynthetic pathway of spectinomycin in Streptomyces spectabilis .
Significance and Impact of the Study:  This is the report regarding the expression of a biosynthetic gene cluster that gives rise to the production of aminoglycoside antibiotics in Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003. Therefore, this work may serve as a foundation for further research on spectinomycin biosynthesis and other aminoglycosides.     

Metabolic engineering of noviose: heterologous expression of novWUS and generation of a new hybrid antibiotic, noviosylated 10-deoxymethynolide/narbonolide, from Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003-OTBP1

NovW, novU and novS genes have been characterized as dTDP-4-keto-6-deoxy-D-glucose 3-epimerase, C-5 methyltransferase and dTDP-glucose 4-ketoreductase, respectively involved in noviose biosynthetic pathway. We have cloned and expressed the Streptomyces spheroids novWUS genes in S. venezuelae YJ003-OTBP1. This established the function of novWUS and, at the same time, it also proved that the noviosyl derivative of 10-deoxymethynolide(2)/narbonolide(4) obtained from S. venezuelae YJ003-OTBP1 is a novel hybrid antibiotic.     

Genetically engineered biosynthesis of macrolide derivatives including 4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-L-glucose from Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003-OTBP3

Two sugar biosynthetic cassette plasmids were used to direct the biosynthesis of a deoxyaminosugar. The pOTBP1 plasmid containing TDP-glucose synthase (desIII), TDP-glucose-4,6-dehydratase (desIV), and glycosyltransferase (desVII/desVIII) was constructed and transformed into S. venezuelae YJ003, a strain in which the entire gene cluster of desosamine biosynthesis is deleted. The expression plasmid pOTBP3 containing 4-aminotransferase (gerB) and 3,5-epimerase (orf9) was transformed again into S. venezuelae YJ003- OTBP1 to obtain S. venezuelae YJ003-OTBP3 for the production of 4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-L-glucose derivatives. The crude extracts obtained from S. venezuelae ATCC 15439, S. venezuelae YJ003, and S. venezuelae YJ003-OTBP3 were further analyzed by TLC, bioassay, HPLC, ESI/MS, LC/MS, and MS/MS. The results of our study clearly shows that S. venezuelae YJ003-OTBP3 constructs other new hybrid macrolide derivatives including 4-amino-4,6-dideoxy-L-glycosylated YC-17 (3, [M+ Na+] m/z=464.5), methymycin (4, m/z=480.5), novamethymycin (6, m/z=496.5), and pikromycin (5, m/z=536.5) from a 12- membered ring aglycon (10-deoxymethynolide, 1) and 14-membered ring aglycon (narbonolide, 2). These results suggest a successful engineering of a deoxysugar pathway to generate novel hybrid macrolide derivatives, including deoxyaminosugar.     

Heterologous production of clavulanic acid intermediates in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces venezuelae</Emphasis>

Heterologous expression can enhance production of diverse secondary metabolites by redirecting precursor pools towards compound of interest. In this study, Streptomyces venezuelae YJ028 was utilized as the heterologous host for the expression of four structural clavulanic acid biosynthesis genes, which encode carboxyethylarginine synthase (ceas2), β-lactam synthetase (bls2), clavaminate synthase (cas2), and proclavaminate amidinohydrolase (pah2). These genes were cloned into pIBR25 expression vector containing ermE* promoter to generate pBS4. The cas2 gene was also cloned into pSET152 to generate pCas2. It was then integrated into the genome of S. venezuelae YJ028. Upon metabolite profiling of recombinant strains by ultra-pressure liquid chromatography-photodiode array (UPLC-PDA) and high resolution liquid chromatography quadruple time-offlight electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-LC-QTOF-ESI/MS), the production of following clavulanic acid intermediates in S. venezuelae recombinant were confirmed: deoxygaunidinoproclavaminic acid, guanidinoproclavaminic acid, and dihydroclavaminic acid. This work demonstrates the production of β-lactam intermediates of the clavulanic acid pathway by heterologous expression in S. venezuelae YJ028.     

An approach for cloning biosynthetic genes of 2-deoxystreptamine-containing aminocyclitol antibiotics: isolation of a biosynthetic gene cluster of tobramycin from Streptomyces tenebrarius

Genes homologous to 2-deoxystreptamine (DOS) biosynthetic genes were isolated from aminoglycoside producers, Micromonospora and Streptomyces spp., using PCR primers based on the core sequences of 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose (DOI) synthase and L-glutamine: scyllo-inosose aminotransferase (GIA). Identities of 40-45% were observed for DOI synthases, and 65-75% were observed for GIAs. The gene cluster of tobramycin biosynthesis was isolated from the genomic library of Streptomyces tenebrarius using DOI synthase as a probe. Sequencing of 33.9 kb revealed 24 putative open reading frames including the tobramycin biosynthetic gene cluster (13.8 kb) and a transport protein. This cluster encodes proteins homologous to 2-deoxystreptamine biosynthetic enzymes, glycosyltransferase and other aminocyclitols biosynthetic enzymes. Sequence analysis revealed the evolution of DOI synthases from 3-dehydroquinate (DHQ) synthases in actinomycetes. DOI synthases and GIA are therefore useful for cloning biosynthetic genes of DOS-containing aminocyclitol antibiotics or for screening such metabolites producers.     

Characterization of L-glutamine:2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose aminotransferase (tbmB) from Streptomyces tenebrarius

2-Deoxystreptamine (DOS)-containing aminoglycoside-aminocyclitol (AmAc) antibiotics represent the majority of clinically important AmAcs. Biosynthetic investigations of formation of DOS in actinomycetes are limited to the characterization of 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose synthase, the first step enzyme of the DOS biosynthetic pathway. A gene encoding L-glutamine:2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose aminotransferase (tbmB) from the tobramycin producer Streptomyces tenebrarius was expressed heterologously in Escherichia coli. The conversions of 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose to 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosamine and scyllo-inosose to scyllo-inosamine with the activity of TbmB were determined in vitro. The results indicate that tbmB catalyzes the second step of the DOS biosynthetic pathway during the biosynthesis of 2-deoxystreptamine, a subunit of tobramycin, in S. tenebrarius.     

Biosynthesis of glycosylated derivatives of tylosin in Streptomyces venezuelae

Streptomyces venezuelae YJ028, bearing a deletion of the entire biosynthetic gene cluster encoding the pikromycin polyketide synthases and desosamine biosynthetic enzymes, was used as a bioconversion system for combinatorial biosynthesis of glycosylated derivatives of tylosin. Two engineered deoxysugar biosynthetic pathways for the biosynthesis of TDP-3-O-demethyl-D-chalcose or TDP-Lrhamnose in conjunction with the glycosyltransferaseauxiliary protein pair DesVII/DesVIII were expressed in a S. venezuelae YJ028 mutant strain. Supplementation of each mutant strain capable of producing TDP-3-O-demethyl- D-chalcose or TDP-L-rhamnose with tylosin aglycone tylactone resulted in the production of the 3-O-demethyl- D-chalcose, D-quinovose, or L-rhamnose-glycosylated tylactone.     

Engineered biosynthesis of glycosylated derivatives of narbomycin and evaluation of their antibacterial activities

A 14-membered macrolide antibiotic narbomycin produced from Streptomyces venezuelae ATCC 15439 is composed of polyketide macrolactone ring and D-desosamine as a deoxysugar moiety, which acts as an important determinant of its antibacterial activity. In order to generate diverse glycosylated derivatives of narbomycin, expression plasmids carrying different deoxysugar biosynthetic gene cassettes and the gene encoding a substrate-flexible glycosyltransferase DesVII were constructed and introduced into S. venezuelae YJ003 mutant strain bearing a deletion of thymidine-5'-diphospho-D-desosamine biosynthetic gene cluster. The resulting recombinants of S. venezuelae produced a range of new analogs of narbomycin, which possess unnatural sugar moieties instead of native deoxysugar D-desosamine. The structures of narbomycin derivatives were determined through nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry analyses and their antibacterial activities were evaluated in vitro against erythromycin-susceptible and -resistant Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus. Substitution with L-rhamnose or 3-O-demethyl-D-chalcose was demonstrated to exhibit greater antibacterial activity than narbomycin and the clinically relevant erythromycin. This work provides new insight into the functions of deoxysugar biosynthetic enzymes and structure-activity relationships of the sugar moieties attached to the macrolides and demonstrate the potential of combinatorial biosynthesis for the generation of new macrolides carrying diverse sugars with increased antibacterial activities.     

Molecular cloning and characterization of a 2-deoxystreptamine biosynthetic gene cluster in gentamicin-producing Micromonospora echinospora ATCC15835

The organization of the 2-deoxystreptamine (DOS) biosynthetic gene cluster of Micromonospora echinospora has been determined. Sequencing of a 14.04 kb-region revealed twelve open reading frames (ORFs): four putative DOS biosynthetic genes (gtmA, B, C, and D), five amino sugars biosynthetic genes (gtmE, G, H, I, and gacB), two aminoglycoside resistance genes (gtmF and J) as well as a hypothetical ORF (gacA). One of the putative DOS biosynthetic genes, gtmA, was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the purified protein was shown to convert glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-P) to 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose (DOI), a key step in DOS biosynthesis. In addition gtmJ was expressed in Streptomyces lividans and shown to confer gentamicin resistance. Thus gtmA and gtmJ are implicated in the biosynthesis of gentamicin and in resistance to it, respectively.     

报告基因法比较两种放线菌启动子的活性

摘要：【目的】比较启动子Psf与红霉素抗性基因启动子（PermE*）在链霉菌中的表达强度差异。【方法】本文利用卡那霉素抗性梯度以及邻苯二酚2,3-双加氧酶显色系统,比较了两个启动子的表达差异。【结果】两个启动子在棒状链霉菌(Streptomyces clavuligerus) NRRL3585、天蓝色链霉菌（Streptomyces coelicolor）M145,委内瑞拉链霉菌（Streptomyces venezuelae）ISP5230及变铅青链霉菌（Streptomyces lividans TK     

Enhanced flavonoid production in Streptomyces venezuelae via metabolic engineering

Metabolic engineering of plant-specific phenylpropanoid biosynthesis has attracted an increasing amount of attention recently, owing to the vast potential of flavonoids as nutraceuticals and pharmaceuticals. Recently, we have developed a recombinant Streptomyces venezuelae as a heterologous host for the production of flavonoids. In this study, we successfully improved flavonoid production by expressing two sets of genes predicted to be involved in malonate assimilation. The introduction of matB and matC encoding for malonyl-CoA synthetase and the putative dicarboxylate carrier protein, respectively, from Streptomyces coelicolor into the recombinant S. venezuelae strains expressing flavanone and flavone biosynthetic genes resulted in enhanced production of both flavonoids.     

Isolation and characterization of the tobramycin biosynthetic gene cluster from Streptomyces tenebrarius

The biosynthetic gene cluster for tobramycin, a 2-deoxystreptamine-containing aminoglycoside antibiotic, was isolated from Streptomyces tenebrarius ATCC 17920. A genomic library of S. tenebrarius was constructed, and a cosmid, pST51, was isolated by the probes based on the core regions of 2-deoxy-scyllo-inosose (DOI) synthase, and L-glutamine:DOI aminotransferase and L-glutamine:scyllo-inosose aminotransferase. Sequencing of 33.9 kb revealed 24 open reading frames (ORFs) including putative tobramycin biosynthetic genes. We demonstrated that one of these ORFs, tbmA, encodes DOI synthase by in vitro enzyme assay of the purified protein. The catalytic residues of TbmA and dehydroquinate synthase were studied by homology modeling. The gene cluster found is likely to be involved in the biosynthesis of tobramycin.     

The prokaryotic neomycin-resistance-encoding gene acts as a transcriptional silencer in eukaryotic cells

The gene encoding neomycin resistance (neo) mediates a cis-acting negative effect on expression from promoters in transient and stable transfectants of mammalian cell lines. Inserting the neo gene either into retroviral vectors or into plasmids containing reporter genes results in a five- to tenfold decrease of expression from proximal promoters like the simian virus 40 early or the retroviral myeloproliferative sarcoma virus promoter. The silencing effect is not dependent on the insertion site or the orientation of the fragment. The neo gene is frequently used in eukaryotic vectors as a dominant selectable gene. Other selectable genes were tested for potential cis-activity. We found that the gene conferring resistance to puromycin from Streptomyces alboniger does not influence adjacent promoters.     

委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种属间接合转移系统的构建及透明颤菌血红蛋白的表达

【目的】构建委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种属间接合转移系统及透明颤菌血红蛋白的表达。【方法】以链霉菌广泛使用的整合型质粒pSET152和复制型pHZ1358为出发质粒,通过供体大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)ET12567(pUZ8002)进行属间接合转移委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种。【结果】确定了该变种的最佳接合转移条件;通过SOE-PCR(Splicing by overlap extension PCR)技术构建含PermE和vhb结构基因融合片段的整合型表达载体pJD100,转化ET12567(pUZ8002)后属间接合转移委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种。通过PCR和CO结合差光谱验证了vhb基因在委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种中的整合表达。【结论】本文首次探索了委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种接合转移系统,确定了委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种的最佳接合转移条件,并采用基因工程手段使vhb基因在委内瑞拉链霉菌秦岭变种中获得表达。     

Heterologous expression of the kanamycin biosynthetic gene cluster (pSKC2) in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Streptomyces venezuelae</Emphasis> YJ003

The pSKC2 cosmid, which has 32 kb and 28 open-reading frames, was isolated from Streptomyces kanamyceticus ATCC12853 as the gene cluster of kanamycin. This gene cluster includes the minimal biosynthetic genes of kanamycin with the resistance and regulatory genes. It was heterologously expressed in Streptomyces venezuelae YJ003, which has the advantage of fast growth, good efficiency of the transformation host, and rapid production of the aminoglycosides antibiotic. The isolated compound was analyzed by electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry, liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, and tandem mass spectrometry and shows a molecular weight of 485 as kanamycin A.     

Conjugational fertility and location of chloramphenicol biosynthesis genes on the chromosomal linkage map of Streptomyces venezuelae

In Streptomyces venezuelae fertility, defined as chromosomal gene recombination, was enhanced over 1000-fold when one parent in a biparental conjugational cross lacked the physically-undetected plasmid SVP1, as compared with crosses in which both parents carried SVP1. The existence of SVP1 and at least two other fertility plasmids, SVP2 and SVP3, was detected in S. venezuelae by 'lethal zygosis' elicited by a plasmid-plus mycelium in contact with a plasmid-minus mycelium. Conjugational crosses were used to construct a linkage map of S. venezuelae which was highly consistent with the map of analogous loci in S. coelicolor A3(2). A cluster of genes governing chloramphenicol biosynthesis was located near arg, cys and pdxB genes at a position roughly equivalent to the 1-2 o'clock region of the S. coelicolor A3(2) map.