Rolling circle amplification of synthetic DNA accelerates biocatalytic determination of enzyme activity relative to conventional methods.

The ability to quickly and easily assess the activity of large collections of enzymes for a desired substrate holds great promise in the field of biocatalysis. Cell-free synthesis, although not practically amenable for large-scale enzyme production, provides a way to accelerate the timeline for screening enzyme candidates using small-scale reactions. However, because cell-free enzyme synthesis requires a considerable amount of template DNA, the preparation of high-quality DNA "parts" in large quantities represents a costly and rate-limiting prerequisite for high throughput screening.

Structure, bioactivity, and resistance mechanism of streptomonomicin, an unusual lasso Peptide from an understudied halophilic actinomycete.

Natural products are the most historically significant source of compounds for drug development. However, unacceptably high rates of compound rediscovery associated with large-scale screening of common microbial producers have resulted in the abandonment of many natural product drug discovery efforts, despite the increasing prevalence of clinically problematic antibiotic resistance. Screening of underexplored taxa represents one strategy to avoid rediscovery.

Structural investigation of ribosomally synthesized natural products by hypothetical structure enumeration and evaluation using tandem MS.

Ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are a growing class of natural products that are found in all domains of life. These compounds possess vast structural diversity and have a wide range of biological activities, promising a fertile ground for exploring novel natural products. One challenging aspect of RiPP research is the difficulty of structure determination due to their architectural complexity.

Nucleophilic 1,4-additions for natural product discovery.

Natural products remain an important source of drug candidates, but the difficulties inherent to traditional isolation, coupled with unacceptably high rates of compound rediscovery, limit the pace of natural product detection. Here we describe a reactivity-based screening method to rapidly identify exported bacterial metabolites that contain dehydrated amino acids (i.e.

Orchestration of enzymatic processing by thiazole/oxazole-modified microcin dehydrogenases.

Thiazole/oxazole-modified microcins (TOMMs) comprise a structurally diverse family of natural products with varied bioactivities linked by the presence of posttranslationally installed thiazol(in)e and oxazol(in)e heterocycles. The detailed investigation of the TOMM biosynthetic enzymes from Bacillus sp. Al Hakam (Balh) has provided significant insight into heterocycle biosynthesis.

Structural and functional insight into an unexpectedly selective N-methyltransferase involved in plantazolicin biosynthesis.

Plantazolicin (PZN), a polyheterocyclic, N(α),N(α)-dimethylarginine-containing antibiotic, harbors remarkably specific bactericidal activity toward strains of Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax. Previous studies demonstrated that genetic deletion of the S-adenosyl-L-methionine-dependent methyltransferase from the PZN biosynthetic gene cluster results in the formation of desmethylPZN, which is devoid of antibiotic activity. Here we describe the in vitro reconstitution, mutational analysis, and X-ray crystallographic structure of the PZN methyltransferase.

Engineering unnatural variants of plantazolicin through codon reprogramming.

Plantazolicin (PZN) is a polyheterocyclic natural product derived from a ribosomal peptide that harbors remarkable antibiotic selectivity for the causative agent of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis. To simultaneously establish the structure-activity relationship of PZN and the substrate tolerance of the biosynthetic pathway, an Escherichia coli expression strain was engineered to heterologously produce PZN analogues. Variant PZN precursor genes were produced by site-directed mutagenesis and later screened by mass spectrometry to assess post-translational modification and export by E.

YcaO domains use ATP to activate amide backbones during peptide cyclodehydrations.

Thiazole/oxazole-modified microcins (TOMMs) encompass a recently defined class of ribosomally synthesized natural products with a diverse set of biological activities. Although TOMM biosynthesis has been investigated for over a decade, the mechanism of heterocycle formation by the synthetase enzymes remains poorly understood. Using substrate analogs and isotopic labeling, we demonstrate that ATP is used to directly phosphorylate the peptide amide backbone during TOMM heterocycle formation.

Selectivity, directionality, and promiscuity in peptide processing from a Bacillus sp. Al Hakam cyclodehydratase.

The thiazole/oxazole-modified microcins (TOMMs) represent a burgeoning class of ribosomal natural products decorated with thiazoles and (methyl)oxazoles originating from cysteines, serines, and threonines. The ribosomal nature of TOMMs allows for the generation of derivative products from mutations in the amino acid sequence of the precursor peptide, which ultimately manifest in differing structures and, sometimes, biological functions. Employing a TOMM system for the purpose of creating new structures and functions via combinatorial biosynthesis requires processing machinery that can tolerate highly variable substrates.

Structure determination and interception of biosynthetic intermediates for the plantazolicin class of highly discriminating antibiotics.

The soil-dwelling, plant growth-promoting bacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42 is a prolific producer of complex natural products. Recently, a new FZB42 metabolite, plantazolicin (PZN), has been described as a member of the growing thiazole/oxazole-modified microcin (TOMM) family. TOMMs are biosynthesized from inactive, ribosomal peptides and undergo a series of cyclodehydrations, dehydrogenations, and other modifications to become bioactive natural products.

Thiazole/oxazole-modified microcins: complex natural products from ribosomal templates.

With billions of years of evolution under its belt, Nature has been expanding and optimizing its biosynthetic capabilities. Chemically complex secondary metabolites continue to challenge and inspire today's most talented synthetic chemists. A brief glance at these natural products, especially the substantial structural variation within a class of compounds, clearly demonstrates that Nature has long played the role of medicinal chemist.