ActVI-ORFA directs metabolic flux towards actinorhodin by preventing intermediate degradation.

The biosynthetic pathway of actinorhodin in Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) has been studied for decades as a model system of type II polyketide biosynthesis. The actinorhodin biosynthetic gene cluster includes a gene, actVI-orfA, that encodes a protein that belongs to the nuclear transport factor-2-like (NTF-2-like) superfamily. The function of this ActVI-ORFA protein has been a long-standing question in this field.

Biosynthesis of Diverse Type II Polyketide Core Structures in M1152.

Synthetic biology-based approaches have been employed to generate advanced natural product (NP) pathway intermediates to overcome obstacles in NP drug discovery and production. Type II polyketides (PK-IIs) comprise a major subclass of NPs that provide attractive structures for antimicrobial and anticancer drug development. Herein, we have assembled five biosynthetic pathways using a generalized operon design strategy in M1152 to allow comparative analysis of metabolite production in an improved heterologous host.

Characterization of the glycosyltransferase activity of desVII: analysis of and implications for the biosynthesis of macrolide antibiotics.

In vitro catalytic activity of DesVII, the glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of methymycin, neomethymycin, narbomycin, and pikromycin in Streptomyces venezuelae, is described. This is the first report of demonstrated in vitro activity of a glycosyltransferase involved in the biosynthesis of macrolide antibiotics. DesVII is unique among glycosyltransferases in that it requires an additional protein component, DesVIII, as well as basic pH for its full activity.