一个热诱导穿梭表达载体的构建及其在链霉菌中的应用

为探索大肠杆菌λ噬菌体表达调控元件在链霉菌中的应用,构建了一个链霉菌大肠杆菌穿梭表达载体pHZ1080,并将来自链霉菌FR-008的聚酮合酶(PKS)基因置于其中的λ噬菌体启动子P_R下游,得到表达PKS的穿梭质粒pHZ1067。与在大肠杆菌中一样,该质粒在变铅青链霉菌中也受热诱导表达100kD的PKS蛋白;表达的PKS蛋白可由SDSPAGE和Western-blot实验检测到。PKS在链霉菌中的热诱导表达表明,构建的载体也能用于链霉菌诱导表达外源基因。       

Analysis and manipulation of amphotericin biosynthetic genes by means of modified phage KC515 transduction techniques

Amphotericin B is a medically important antifungal antibiotic that is produced by Streptomyces nodosus. Genetic manipulation of this organism has led to production of the first amphotericin analogues by engineered biosynthesis. Here, these studies were extended by sequencing the chromosomal regions flanking the amphotericin polyketide synthase genes, and by refining the phage KC515 transduction method for disruption and replacement of S. nodosus genes. A hybrid vector was constructed from KC515 DNA and the Escherichia coli plasmid pACYC177. This vector replicated as a plasmid in E. coli and the purified DNA yielded phage plaques on Streptomyces lividans after polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated transfection of protoplasts. The left flank of the amphotericin gene cluster was found to include amphRI, RII, RIII and RIV genes that are similar to regulatory genes in other polyene biosynthetic gene clusters. One of these regulatory genes, amphRI, was found to have a homologue, amphRVI, located in the right flank at a distance of 127 kbp along the chromosome. However, disruption of amphRVI using the hybrid vector had no effect on the yield of amphotericin obtained from cultures grown on production medium. The hybrid vector was also used for precise deletion of the DNA coding for two modules of the AmphC polyketide synthase protein. Analysis by UV spectrophotometry revealed that the deletion mutant produced a novel pentaene, with reduced antifungal activity but apparently greater water-solubility than amphotericin B. This shows the potential for use of the new vector in engineering of this and other biosynthetic pathways in Streptomyces.     

Biosynthesis of Polyketides in Heterologous Hosts

Polyketide natural products show great promise as medicinal agents. Typically the products of microbial secondary biosynthesis, polyketides are synthesized by an evolutionarily related but architecturally diverse family of multifunctional enzymes called polyketide synthases. A principal limitation for fundamental biochemical studies of these modular megasynthases, as well as for their applications in biotechnology, is the challenge associated with manipulating the natural microorganism that produces a polyketide of interest. To ameliorate this limitation, over the past decade several genetically amenable microbes have been developed as heterologous hosts for polyketide biosynthesis. Here we review the state of the art as well as the difficulties associated with heterologous polyketide production. In particular, we focus on two model hosts, Streptomyces coelicolor and Escherichia coli. Future directions for this relatively new but growing technological opportunity are also discussed.     

Biosynthesis of polyketides in heterologous hosts.

Polyketide natural products show great promise as medicinal agents. Typically the products of microbial secondary biosynthesis, polyketides are synthesized by an evolutionarily related but architecturally diverse family of multifunctional enzymes called polyketide synthases. A principal limitation for fundamental biochemical studies of these modular megasynthases, as well as for their applications in biotechnology, is the challenge associated with manipulating the natural microorganism that produces a polyketide of interest. To ameliorate this limitation, over the past decade several genetically amenable microbes have been developed as heterologous hosts for polyketide biosynthesis. Here we review the state of the art as well as the difficulties associated with heterologous polyketide production. In particular, we focus on two model hosts, Streptomyces coelicolor and Escherichia coli. Future directions for this relatively new but growing technological opportunity are also discussed.     

Purification of a malonyltransferase from Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and analysis of its genetic determinant.

Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) synthesizes each half molecule of the dimeric polyketide antibiotic actinorhodin (Act) from one acetyl and seven malonyl building units, catalyzed by the Act polyketide synthase (PKS). The synthesis is analogous to fatty acid biosynthesis, and there is evident structural similarity between PKSs of Streptomyces spp. and fatty acid synthases (FASs). Each system should depend on a malonyl coenzyme A:acyl carrier protein malonyltransferase, which charges the FAS or PKS with the malonyl units for carbon chain extension. We have purified the Act acyl carrier protein-dependent malonyltransferase from stationary-phase, Act-producing cultures and have determined the N-terminal amino acid sequence and cloned the structural gene. The deduced amino acid sequence resembles those of known malonyltransferases of FASs and PKSs. The gene lies some 2.8 Mb from the rest of the act cluster, adjacent to an open reading frame whose gene product resembles ketoacylsynthase III of Escherichia coli FAS. The malonyltransferase was expressed equally as well during vegetative growth (when other components of the act PKS were not expressed) as in the stationary phase, suggesting that the malonyltransferase may be shared between the FAS and PKS of S. coelicolor. Disruption of the operon containing the malonyltransferase gene proved to be impossible, supporting the idea that the malonyltransferase plays an essential role in fatty acid biosynthesis.     

Self-malonylation is an intrinsic property of a chemically synthesized type II polyketide synthase acyl carrier protein

During polyketide biosynthesis, malonyl groups are transferred to the acyl carrier protein (ACP) component of the polyketide synthase (PKS), and it has been shown that a number of type II polyketide ACPs undergo rapid self-acylation from malonyl-CoA in the absence of a malonyl-CoA:holo-acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCAT). More recently, however, the observation of self-malonylation has been ascribed to contamination with Escherichia coli MCAT (FabD) rather than an intrinsic property of the ACP. The wild-type apo-ACP from the actinorhodin (act) PKS of Streptomyces coelicolor (synthetic apo-ACP) has therefore been synthesized using solid-state peptide methods and refolded using the GroEL/ES chaperone system from E. coli. Correct folding of the act ACP has been confirmed by circular dichroism (CD) and 1H NMR. Synthetic apo-ACP was phosphopantetheinylated to 100% by S. coelicolor holo-acyl carrier protein synthase (ACPS), and the resultant holo-ACP underwent self-malonylation in the presence of malonyl-CoA. No malonylation of negative controls was observed, confirming that the use of ACPS and GroEL/ES did not introduce contamination with E. coli MCAT. This result proves unequivocally that self-malonylation is an inherent activity of this PKS ACP in vitro.     

Isolation and sequence analysis of polyketide synthase genes from the daunomycin-producing Streptomyces sp. strain C5.

A contiguous region of about 30 kbp of DNA putatively encoding reactions in daunomycin biosynthesis was isolated from Streptomyces sp. strain C5 DNA. The DNA sequence of an 8.1-kbp EcoRI fragment, which hybridized with actI polyketide synthase (PKS) and actIII polyketide reductase (PKR) gene probes, was determined, revealing seven complete open reading frames (ORFs), two in one cluster and five in a divergently transcribed cluster. The former two genes are likely to encode PKR and a bifunctional cyclase/dehydrase. The five latter genes encode: (i) a homolog of TcmH, an oxygenase of the tetracenomycin biosynthesis pathway; (ii) a PKS Orf1 homolog; (iii) a PKS Orf2 homolog (chain length factor); (iv) a product having moderate sequence identity with Escherichia coli beta-ketoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase III but lacking the conserved active site; and (v) a protein highly similar to several acyltransferases. The DNA within the 8.1-kbp EcoRI fragment restored daunomycin production to two dauA non-daunomycin-producing mutants of Streptomyces sp. strain C5 and restored wild-type antibiotic production to Streptomyces coelicolor B40 (act VII; nonfunctional cyclase/dehydrase), and to S. coelicolor B41 (actIII) and Streptomyces galilaeus ATCC 31671, strains defective in PKR activity.     

Ablation of the otcC gene encoding a post-polyketide hydroxylase from the oxytetracyline biosynthetic pathway in Streptomyces rimosus results in novel polyketides with altered chain length

Oxytetracycline (OTC) is a 19-carbon polyketide antibiotic made by Streptomyces rimosus. The otcC gene encodes an anhydrotetracycline oxygenase that catalyzes a hydroxylation of the anthracycline structure at position C-6 after biosynthesis of the polyketide backbone is completed. A recombinant strain of S. rimosus that was disrupted in the genomic copy of otcC synthesized a novel C-17 polyketide. This result indicates that the absence of the otcC gene product significantly influences the ability of the OTC "minimal" polyketide synthase to make a polyketide product of the correct chain length. A mutant copy of otcC was made by site-directed mutagenesis of three essential glycine codons located within the putative NADPH-binding domain. The mutant gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and biochemical analysis confirmed that the gene product was catalytically inactive. When the mutant gene replaced the ablated gene in the chromosome of S. rimosus, the ability to make a 19-carbon backbone was restored, indicating that OtcC is an essential partner in the quaternary structure of the synthase complex.     

Metabolic engineering of a methylmalonyl-CoA mutase-epimerase pathway for complex polyketide biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

A barrier to heterologous production of complex polyketides in Escherichia coli is the lack of (2S)-methylmalonyl-CoA, a common extender substrate for the biosynthesis of complex polyketides by modular polyketide synthases. One biosynthetic route to (2S)-methylmalonyl-CoA involves the sequential actions of two enzymes, methylmalonyl-CoA mutase and methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase, which convert succinyl-CoA to (2R)- and then to (2S)-methylmalonyl-CoA. As reported [McKie, N., et al. (1990) Biochem. J. 269, 293-298; Haller, T., et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 4622-4629], when genes encoding coenzyme B(12)-dependent methylmalonyl-CoA mutases were expressed in E. coli, the inactive apo-enzyme was produced. However, when cells harboring the mutase genes from Propionibacterium shermanii or E. coli were treated with the B12 precursor hydroxocobalamin, active holo-enzyme was isolated, and (2R)-methylmalonyl-CoA represented approximately 10% of the intracellular CoA pool. When the E. coli BAP1 cell line [Pfeifer, B. A., et al. (2001) Science 291, 1790-1792] harboring plasmids that expressed P. shermanii methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, Streptomyces coelicolor methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase, and the polyketide synthase DEBS (6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase) was fed propionate and hydroxocobalamin, the polyketide 6-deoxyerythronolide B (6-dEB) was produced. Isotopic labeling studies using [(13)C]propionate showed that the starter unit for polyketide synthesis was derived exclusively from exogenous propionate, while the extender units stemmed from methylmalonyl-CoA via the mutase-epimerase pathway. Thus, the introduction of an engineered mutase-epimerase pathway in E. coli enabled the uncoupling of carbon sources used to produce starter and extender units of polyketides.     

Purification and characterization of the acyl carrier protein of the Streptomyces glaucescens tetracenomycin C polyketide synthase.

The acyl carrier protein (ACP) of the tetracenomycin C polyketide synthase, encoded by the tcmM gene, has been expressed in both Streptomyces glaucescens and Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. Expression of the tcmM gene in E. coli results mainly in the TcmM apo-ACP, whereas expression in S. glaucescens yields solely the holo-ACP. The purified holo-TcmM is active in a malonyl coenzyme A:ACP transacylase assay and is labeled by radioactive beta-alanine, confirming that it carries a 4'-phosphopantetheine prosthetic group.     

Draft genome of Streptomyces tsukubaensis NRRL 18488, the producer of the clinically important immunosuppressant tacrolimus (FK506)

The macrocyclic polyketide tacrolimus (FK506) is a potent immunosuppressant that prevents T-cell proliferation produced solely by Streptomyces species. We report here the first draft genome sequence of a true FK506 producer, Streptomyces tsukubaensis NRRL 18488, the first tacrolimus-producing strain that was isolated and that contains the full tacrolimus biosynthesis gene cluster.     

除虫链霉菌10个聚酮类抗生素生物合成基因簇的敲除对阿维菌素产量的影响

【目的】考察除虫链霉菌基因组中其它聚酮合成酶类(Polyketide synthase,PKS)抗生素生物合成基因簇的敲除突变对于阿维菌素产量的影响。【方法】构建了11个PKS基因簇的打靶Cosmid和质粒载体,导入除虫链霉菌中筛选突变株。【结果】在工业菌株MMR630中成功敲除了10个PKS基因簇。发酵结果显示7个PKS基因簇敲除突变株中阿维菌素的产量均有不同程度的提高,而2个突变株不能产生阿维菌素。然而,在3个连续敲除2个PKS基因簇的突变株中阿维菌素产量没有能够超过单个PKS敲除突变株的提升幅度。【结论】除虫链霉菌基因组的一些PKS基因簇的敲除可以提高阿维菌素的产量,同时暗示同一类次生代谢产物的代谢流之间存在复杂的相互作用关系。     

Inactivation,complementation, and heterologous expression of encP,a novel bacterial phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene

The enzyme phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, which catalyzes the nonoxidative deamination of l-phenylalanine to trans-cinnamic acid, is ubiquitously distributed in plants. We now report its characterization for the first time in a bacterium. The phenylalanine ammonia-lyase homologous gene encP from the "Streptomyces maritimus" enterocin biosynthetic gene cluster was functionally characterized and shown to encode the first enzyme in the pathway to the enterocin polyketide synthase starter unit benzoyl-coenzyme A. The disruption of the encP gene completely inhibited the production of cinnamate and enterocin, whereas complementation of the mutant with benzoyl-coenzyme A pathway intermediates or with the wild-type gene encP restored the formation of the benzoate-primed polyketide antibiotic enterocin. Heterologous expression of the encP gene under the control of the ermE* promoter in Streptomyces coelicolor furthermore led to the production of cinnamic acid in the fermented cultures, confirming that the encP gene indeed encodes a novel bacterial phenylalanine ammonia-lyase.     

Cloning, purification and characterization of a functional anthracycline glycosyltransferase

We have cloned the gene that encodes a novel glucosyl transferase (AraGT) involved in rhamnosylation of the polyketide antibiotic Aranciamycin in Streptomyces echinatus. AraGT comprises two domains characteristic of bacterial glycosyltranferases. AraGT was synthesized in E. coli as a decahistidinyl-tagged polypeptide. Purified AraGT is dimeric, displays a T(mapp) of 30 degrees C and can glycosylate the aglycone of an Aranciamycin derivative as shown by liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. The availability of functional AraGT will allow the generation Aranciamycin-based combinatorial libraries.     

Biosynthes of polyketide antibiotics by various actinomycin producing Streptomyces species]

A collection of actinomycin-producing Streptomyces strains, their variants with different levels of antibiotic biosynthesis, and recombinant strains were screened in order to select new strains that produce polyketide antibiotics. Screening with the use of the cloned act gene encoding a component of actinorhodin polyketide synthase (PKS) multienzyme complex from Streptomyces coelicolor revealed that many strains tested can synthesize polyketide antibiotics along with actinomycins. A relationship between biosynthetic pathways of actinomycins and polyketides is discussed.     

DnrD cyclase involved in the biosynthesis of doxorubicin: purification and characterization of the recombinant enzyme

Mutations in the Streptomyces peucetius dnrD gene block the ring cyclization leading from aklanonic acid methyl ester (AAME) to aklaviketone (AK), an intermediate in the biosynthetic pathway to daunorubicin (DNR) and doxorubicin. To investigate the role of DnrD in this transformation, its gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and the DnrD protein was purified to homogeneity and characterized. The enzyme was shown to catalyze the conversion of AAME to AK presumably via an intramolecular aldol condensation mechanism. In contrast to the analogous intramolecular aldol cyclization catalyzed by the TcmI protein from the tetracenomycin (TCM) C pathway in Streptomyces glaucescens, where a tricyclic anthraquinol carboxylic acid is converted to its fully aromatic tetracyclic form, the conversion catalyzed by DnrD occurs after anthraquinone formation and requires activation of a carboxylic acid group by esterification of aklanonic acid, the AAME precursor. Also, the cyclization is not coupled with a subsequent dehydration step that would result in an aromatic ring. As the substrates for the DnrD and TcmI enzymes are among the earliest isolable intermediates of aromatic polyketide biosynthesis, an understanding of the mechanism and active site topology of these proteins will allow one to determine the substrate and mechanistic parameters that are important for aromatic ring formation. In the future, these parameters may be able to be applied to some of the earlier polyketide cyclization processes that currently are difficult to study in vitro.     

Structural modeling and site-directed mutagenesis of the actinorhodin beta-ketoacyl-acyl carrier protein synthase

A three-dimensional model of the Streptomyces coelicolor actinorhodin beta-ketoacyl synthase (Act KS) was constructed based on the X-ray crystal structure of the related Escherichia coli fatty acid synthase condensing enzyme beta-ketoacyl synthase II, revealing a similar catalytic active site organization in these two enzymes. The model was assessed by site-directed mutagenesis of five conserved amino acid residues in Act KS that are in close proximity to the Cys169 active site. Three substitutions completely abrogated polyketide biosynthesis, while two replacements resulted in significant reduction in polyketide production. (3)H-cerulenin labeling of the various Act KS mutant proteins demonstrated that none of the amino acid replacements affected the formation of the active site nucleophile.     

Crystal structure of a bacterial type III polyketide synthase and enzymatic control of reactive polyketide intermediates

In bacteria, a structurally simple type III polyketide synthase (PKS) known as 1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxynaphthlene synthase (THNS) catalyzes the iterative condensation of five CoA-linked malonyl units to form a pentaketide intermediate. THNS subsequently catalyzes dual intramolecular Claisen and aldol condensations of this linear intermediate to produce the fused ring tetrahydroxynaphthalene (THN) skeleton. The type III PKS-catalyzed polyketide extension mechanism, utilizing a conserved Cys-His-Asn catalytic triad in an internal active site cavity, is fairly well understood. However, the mechanistic basis for the unusual production of THN and dual cyclization of its malonyl-primed pentaketide is obscure. Here we present the first bacterial type III PKS crystal structure, that of Streptomyces coelicolor THNS, and identify by mutagenesis, structural modeling, and chemical analysis the unexpected catalytic participation of an additional THNS-conserved cysteine residue in facilitating malonyl-primed polyketide extension beyond the triketide stage. The resulting new mechanistic model, involving the use of additional cysteines to alter and steer polyketide reactivity, may generally apply to other PKS reaction mechanisms, including those catalyzed by iterative type I and II PKS enzymes. Our crystal structure also reveals an unanticipated novel cavity extending into the "floor" of the traditional active site cavity, providing the first plausible structural and mechanistic explanation for yet another unusual THNS catalytic activity: its previously inexplicable extra polyketide extension step when primed with a long acyl starter. This tunnel allows for selective expansion of available active site cavity volume by sequestration of aliphatic starter-derived polyketide tails, and further suggests another distinct protection mechanism involving maintenance of a linear polyketide conformation.