title: The small MbtH-like protein encoded by an internal gene of the balhimycin biosynthetic gene cluster is not required for glycopeptide production.
abstract: The balhimycin biosynthetic gene cluster of the glycopeptide producer Amycolatopsis balhimycina includes a gene (orf1) with unknown function. orf1 shows high similarity to the mbtH gene from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In almost all nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) biosynthetic gene clusters, we could identify a small mbtH-like gene whose function in peptide biosynthesis is not known. The mbtH-like gene is always colocalized with the NRPS genes; however, it does not have a specific position in the gene cluster. In all glycopeptide biosynthetic gene clusters the orf1-like gene is always located downstream of the gene encoding the last module of the NRPS. We inactivated the orf1 gene in A. balhimycina by generating a deletion mutant. The balhimycin production is not affected in the orf1-deletion mutant and is indistinguishable from that of the wild type. For the first time, we show that the inactivation of an mbtH-like gene does not impair the biosynthesis of a nonribosomal peptide.
authors.affiliation: Fakultät Biologie, Mikrobiologisches Institut, Mikrobiologie/Biotechnologie, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Efthimia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Stegmann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rausch
authors.forename: Sigrid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stockert
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Burkert
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wohlleben
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001483:Base Sequence; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006020:Glycopeptides / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D046908:Peptide Biosynthesis, Nucleic Acid-Independent / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D010957:Plasmids; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D006020:Glycopeptides; C087127:balhimycin; D014640:Vancomycin