title: Aryl-aldehyde formation in fungal polyketides: discovery and characterization of a distinct biosynthetic mechanism.
abstract: Aryl-aldehydes are a common feature in fungal polyketides, which are considered to be exclusively generated by the R domain of nonreducing polyketide synthases (NR-PKSs). However, by cloning and heterologous expression of both cryptic NR-PKS and nonribosomal peptide synthase (NRPS)-like genes from Aspergillus terreus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we identified a distinct mechanism for aryl-aldehyde formation in which a NRPS-like protein activates and reduces an aryl-acid produced by the accompanying NR-PKS to an aryl-aldehyde. Bioinformatics study indicates that such a mechanism may be widely used throughout the fungi kingdom.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
authors.forename: Mirko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beissner
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. Electronic address: zhao5@illinois.edu.
authors.forename: Huimin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000447:Aldehydes / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019295:Computational Biology; D005810:Multigene Family; D010453:Peptide Synthases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D048630:Polyketide Synthases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D061065:Polyketides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000378:metabolism*; D021241:Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization
chemical_list: D000447:Aldehydes; D061065:Polyketides; D048630:Polyketide Synthases; D010453:Peptide Synthases; C104385:non-ribosomal peptide synthase