A model of structure and catalysis for ketoreductase domains in modular polyketide synthases.
A putative catalytic triad consisting of tyrosine, serine, and lysine residues was identified in the ketoreductase (KR) domains of modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) based on homology modeling to the short chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) superfamily of enzymes. This was tested by constructing point mutations for each of these three amino acid residues in the KR domain of module 6 of the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase (DEBS) and determining the effect on ketoreduction. Experiments conducted in vitro with the truncated DEBS Module 6+TE (M6+TE) enzyme purified from Escherichia coli indicated that any of three mutations, Tyr --> Phe, Ser --> Ala, and Lys --> Glu, abolish KR activity in formation of the triketide lactone product from a diketide substrate. The same mutations were also introduced in module 6 of the full DEBS gene set and expressed in Streptomyces lividans for in vivo analysis. In this case, the Tyr --> Phe mutation appeared to completely eliminate KR6 activity, leading to the 3-keto derivative of 6-deoxyerythronolide B, whereas the other two mutations, Ser --> Ala and Lys --> Glu, result in a mixture of both reduced and unreduced compounds at the C-3 position. The results support a model analogous to SDRs in which the conserved tyrosine serves as a proton donating catalytic residue. In contrast to deletion of the entire KR6 domain of DEBS, which causes a loss in substrate specificity of the adjacent acyltransferase (AT) domain in module 6, these mutations do not affect the AT6 specificity and offer a potentially superior approach to KR inactivation for engineered biosynthesis of novel polyketides. The homology modeling studies also led to identification of amino acid residues predictive of the stereochemical nature of KR domains. Finally, a method is described for the rapid purification of engineered PKS modules that consists of a biotin recognition sequence C-terminal to the thioesterase domain and adsorption of the biotinylated module from crude extracts to immobilized streptavidin. Immobilized M6+TE obtained by this method was over 95% pure and as catalytically effective as M6+TE in solution.
Reid
Ralph
R
Kosan Biosciences, Inc., 3832 Bay Center Place, Hayward, California 94545, USA.
Piagentini
Misty
M
Rodriguez
Eduardo
E
Ashley
Gary
G
Viswanathan
Nina
N
Carney
John
J
Santi
Daniel V
DV
Hutchinson
C Richard
CR
McDaniel
Robert
R
D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002384:Catalysis; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009097:Multienzyme Complexes / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary / Q000235:genetics; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity / Q000235:genetics
D009097:Multienzyme Complexes; D010940:Plant Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases