An ortho C-methylation/O-glycosylation motif on a hydroxy-coumarin scaffold, selectively installed by biocatalysis.

Various bioactive natural products, like the aminocoumarin antibiotics novobiocin and coumermycin, exhibit an aromatic C-methyl group adjacent to a glycosylated phenolic hydroxyl group. Therefore, tailoring of basic phenolic scaffolds to contain the intricate C-methyl/O-glycosyl motif is of high interest for structural and functional diversification of natural products. We demonstrate site-selective 8-C-methylation and 7-O-β-d-glucosylation of 4,5,7-trihydroxy-3-phenyl-coumarin (1) by S-adenosyl-l-methionine dependent C-methyltransferase (from Streptomyces niveus) and uridine 5'-diphosphate glucose dependent glycosyltransferase from apple (Malus × domestica).

The role of Cys108 in Trigonopsis variabilis d-amino acid oxidase examined through chemical oxidation studies and point mutations C108S and C108D.

Oxidative modification of Trigonopsis variabilis D-amino acid oxidase in vivo is traceable as the conversion of Cys108 into a stable cysteine sulfinic acid, causing substantial loss of activity and thermostability of the enzyme. To simulate native and modified oxidase each as a microheterogeneity-resistant entity, we replaced Cys108 individually by a serine (C108S) and an aspartate (C108D), and characterized the purified variants with regard to their biochemical and kinetic properties, thermostability, and reactivity towards oxidation by hypochlorite. Tandem MS analysis of tryptic peptides derived from a hypochlorite-treated inactive preparation of recombinant wild-type oxidase showed that Cys108 was converted into cysteine sulfonic acid, mimicking the oxidative modification of native enzyme as isolated.