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Labeda DP,
( 2011 ) Multilocus sequence analysis of phytopathogenic species of the genus Streptomyces. PMID : 21112986 : DOI : 10.1099/ijs.0.028514-0 Abstract >>
The identification and classification of species within the genus Streptomyces is difficult because there are presently 576 species with validly published names and this number increases every year. The value of multilocus sequence analysis applied to the systematics of Streptomyces species has been well demonstrated in several recently published papers. In this study the sequence fragments of four housekeeping genes, atpD, recA, rpoB and trpB, were determined for the type strains of 10 known phytopathogenic species of the genus Streptomyces, including Streptomyces scabiei, Streptomyces acidiscabies, Streptomyces europaeiscabiei, Streptomyces luridiscabiei, Streptomyces niveiscabiei, Streptomyces puniciscabiei, Streptomyces reticuliscabiei, Streptomyces stelliscabiei, Streptomyces turgidiscabies and Streptomyces ipomoeae, as well as six uncharacterized phytopathogenic Streptomyces isolates. The type strains of 52 other species, including 19 species observed to be phylogenetically closely related to these, based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, were also included in the study. Phylogenetic analysis of single gene alignments and a concatenated four-gene alignment demonstrated that the phytopathogenic species are taxonomically distinct from each other in spite of high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities and provided a tool for the identification of unknown putative phytopathogenic Streptomyces strains at the species level.
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Circello BT,
Eliot AC,
Lee JH,
van der Donk WA,
Metcalf WW,
( 2010 ) Molecular cloning and heterologous expression of the dehydrophos biosynthetic gene cluster. PMID : 20416511 : DOI : 10.1016/j.chembiol.2010.03.007 PMC : PMC2888486 Abstract >>
Dehydrophos is a vinyl phosphonate tripeptide produced by Streptomyces luridus with demonstrated broad-spectrum antibiotic activity. To identify genes necessary for biosynthesis of this unusual compound we screened a fosmid library of S. luridus for the presence of the phosphoenolpyruvate mutase gene, which is required for biosynthesis of most phosphonates. Integration of one such fosmid clone into the chromosome of S. lividans led to heterologous production of dehydrophos. Deletion analysis of this clone allowed identification of the minimal contiguous dehydrophos cluster, which contained 17 open reading frames (ORFs). Bioinformatic analyses of these ORFs are consistent with a proposed biosynthetic pathway that generates dehydrophos from phosphoenolpyruvate. The early steps of this pathway are supported by analysis of intermediates accumulated by blocked mutants and in vitro biochemical experiments.
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Lee JH,
Bae B,
Kuemin M,
Circello BT,
Metcalf WW,
Nair SK,
van der Donk WA,
( 2010 ) Characterization and structure of DhpI, a phosphonate O-methyltransferase involved in dehydrophos biosynthesis. PMID : 20876132 : DOI : 10.1073/pnas.1006848107 PMC : PMC2955109 Abstract >>
Phosphonate natural products possess a range of biological activities as a consequence of their ability to mimic phosphate esters or tetrahedral intermediates formed in enzymatic reactions involved in carboxyl group metabolism. The dianionic form of these compounds at pH 7 poses a drawback with respect to their ability to mimic carboxylates and tetrahedral intermediates. Microorganisms producing phosphonates have evolved two solutions to overcome this hurdle: biosynthesis of monoanionic phosphinates containing two P-C bonds or esterification of the phosphonate group. The latter solution was first discovered for the antibiotic dehydrophos that contains a methyl ester of a phosphonodehydroalanine group. We report here the expression, purification, substrate scope, and structure of the O-methyltransferase from the dehydrophos biosynthetic gene cluster. The enzyme utilizes S-adenosylmethionine to methylate a variety of phosphonates including 1-hydroxyethylphosphonate, 1,2-dihydroxyethylphosphonate, and acetyl-1-aminoethylphosphonate. Kinetic analysis showed that the best substrates are tripeptides containing as C-terminal residue a phosphonate analog of alanine suggesting the enzyme acts late in the biosynthesis of dehydrophos. These conclusions are corroborated by the X-ray structure that reveals an active site that can accommodate a tripeptide substrate. Furthermore, the structural studies demonstrate a conformational change brought about by substrate or product binding. Interestingly, the enzyme has low substrate specificity and was used to methylate the clinical antibiotic fosfomycin and the antimalaria clinical candidate fosmidomycin, showing its promise for applications in bioengineering.
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