Asperochones A and B,two antimicrobial aromatic polyketides from the endophytic fungus Aspergillus sp.MMC-2

Two novel fungal metabolites,asperochones A and B,were obtained from an Aspergillus sp.Their structures were determined by 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)spectroscopy,high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy(HRESIMS),and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis.Asperochone A possesses an intriguing skeleton bearing 5/6/6/6/7/5/5/5 octacyclic ring system,and asperochone B also exhibits an unusual carbon skeleton with five stereochiral centers.Their structures were proposed as heterotrimeric and heterodimeric products of aromatic polyketides.In addition,asperochone A exhibited a potential anti-tuberculosis effect since it showed a moderate potency against Mycobacterium smegmatis.

Antimicrobial Aromatic Polyketides from Gorgonian- Associated Fungus, Penicillium commune 518

Seven new aromatic polyketides, communols A-G （1-7）, were isolated and identified from the fermentation broth of Penicillium commune 518, a marine-derived fungus associated with the Gorgonian, Muricella abnormalis. The new structures of 1-7 were determined by spectroscopic analysis and X-ray single crystal diffraction. Among them, communol D （4） was the first example of a naturally occurring aromatic polyketide with a sulfoxide group from marine thngi. Compounds 1, 6, and 7 all showed moderate antimicrobial activities against Escherichia coli and Enterobacter aerogenes with MIC values of 4.1/16.4, 6.4/25.8, and 23.8/23.8μmoloL^-1, respectively.

Biosynthesis of trialkyl-substituted aromatic polyketide NFAT-133 involves unusual P450 monooxygenase-mediating aromatization and a putative metallo-beta-lactamase fold hydrolase

The bacterial trialkyl-substituted aromatic polyketides are structurally featured with the unusual aromatic core in the middle of polyketide chain such as TM-123(1),veramycin A(2),NFAT-133(3)and benwamycin I(4),which were discovered from Streptomyces species and demonstrated with antidiabetic and immunosuppressant activities.Though the biosynthetic pathway of 1-3 was reported as a type I polyketide synthase(PKS),the PKS assembly line was interpreted inconsistently,and it remains a mystery how the compound 3 was generated.Herein,the PKS assembly logic of 1-4 was revised by site-mutagenetic analysis of the PKS dehydratase domains.Based on gene deletion and complementation,the putative P450 monooxygenase nftE1 and metallo-beta-lactamase(MBL)fold hydrolase nftF1 were verified as essential genes for the biosynthesis of 1-4.The absence of nftE1 led to abolishment of 1-4 and accumulation of new products(5-8).Structural elucidation reveals 5-8 as the non-aromatic analogs of 1,suggesting the NftE1-catalyzed aromatic core formation.Deletion of nftF1 resulted in disappearance of 3 and 4 with the compounds 1 and 2 unaffected.As a rare MBL-fold hydrolase from type I PKSs,NftF1 potentially generates the compound 3 through two strategies:catalyze premature chain-offloading as a trans-acting thioesterase or hydrolyze the lactone-bond of compound 1 as an esterase.

Programmable polyketide biosynthesis platform for production of aromatic compounds in yeast

To accelerate the shift to bio-based production and overcome complicated functional implementation of natural and artificial biosynthetic pathways to industry relevant organisms,development of new,versatile,bio-based production platforms is required.Here we present a novel yeast-based platform for biosynthesis of bacterial aromatic polyketides.The platform is based on a synthetic polyketide synthase system enabling a first demonstration of bacterial aromatic polyketide biosynthesis in a eukaryotic host.

Discovery of angucyclinone polyketides from marine actinomycetes with a genomic DNA-based PCR assay targeting type Ⅱ polyketide synthase

Angucyclinones are aromatic polyketides produced by type Ⅱ polyketide synthases（PKS） and are mainly found in terrestrial actinomycetes. To discover more angucyclinones from marine actinomycetes, a genomic DNA-based PCR assay targeting type Ⅱ polyketide synthases was performed. Among the 167 marine actinomycetes strains screened, twelve strains were identified as the ＂positive＂ strains possessing type Ⅱ PKS-encoding genes based on the sequencing of PCR products. One of the 12 ＂positive＂ strains, Streptomyces sp. PKU-MA00218 was selected for the large-scale fermentation based on the HPLC and TLC analysis. Four angucyclinones, 6-deoxy-8-O-methylrabelomycin（1）, 8-O-methylrabelomycin（2）, 8-O-methyltetrangulol（3）, C-ring cleavage product of angucyclinone C（4）, were isolated and their structures were elucidated based on spectroscopic analyses. The isolation of angucyclinones 1–4 highlights the power of genome mining technologies based on biosynthetic knowledge in natural products discovery.