title: Reconstitution of a fungal meroterpenoid biosynthesis reveals the involvement of a novel family of terpene cyclases.
abstract: Meroterpenoids are hybrid natural products of both terpenoid and polyketide origin. We identified a biosynthetic gene cluster that is responsible for the production of the meroterpenoid pyripyropene in the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus through reconstituted biosynthesis of up to five steps in a heterologous fungal expression system. The cluster revealed a previously unknown terpene cyclase with an unusual sequence and protein primary structure. The wide occurrence of this sequence in other meroterpenoid and indole-diterpene biosynthetic gene clusters indicates the involvement of these enzymes in the biosynthesis of various terpenoid-bearing metabolites produced by fungi and bacteria. In addition, a novel polyketide synthase that incorporated nicotinyl-CoA as the starter unit and a prenyltransferase, similar to that in ubiquinone biosynthesis, was found to be involved in the pyripyropene biosynthesis. The successful production of a pyripyropene analogue illustrates the catalytic versatility of these enzymes for the production of novel analogues with useful biological activities.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Kinya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tokunaga
authors.forename: Yudai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Ikuro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ebizuka
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kushiro
mesh_terms: D005658:Fungi / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013729:Terpenes / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013729:Terpenes