Characterization of the cystargolide biosynthetic gene cluster and functional analysis of the methyltransferase CysG.

Cystargolides are natural products originally isolated from Kitasatospora cystarginea NRRL B16505 as inhibitors of the proteasome. They are composed of a dipeptide backbone linked to a β-lactone warhead. Recently, we identified the cystargolide biosynthetic gene cluster, but systematic genetic analyses had not been carried out because of the lack of a heterologous expression system.