0000000000172725
AUTHOR
Kirstin Scherlach
showing 3 related works from this author
Unexpected Bacterial Origin of the Antibiotic Icosalide: Two-Tailed Depsipeptide Assembly in Multifarious Burkholderia Symbionts.
2018
Icosalide is an unusual two-tailed lipocyclopeptide antibiotic that was originally isolated from a fungal culture. Yet, its biosynthesis and ecological function have remained enigmatic. By genome mining and metabolic profiling of a bacterial endosymbiont ( Burkholderia gladioli) of the pest beetle Lagria villosa, we unveiled a bacterial origin of icosalide. Functional analysis of the biosynthetic gene locus revealed an unprecedented nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) that incorporates two β-hydroxy acids by means of two starter condensation domains in different modules. This unusual assembly line, which may inspire new synthetic biology approaches, is widespread among many symbiotic Bur…
Biosynthesis of Sinapigladioside, an Antifungal Isothiocyanate from Burkholderia Symbionts
2021
Abstract Sinapigladioside is a rare isothiocyanate‐bearing natural product from beetle‐associated bacteria (Burkholderia gladioli) that might protect beetle offspring against entomopathogenic fungi. The biosynthetic origin of sinapigladioside has been elusive, and little is known about bacterial isothiocyanate biosynthesis in general. On the basis of stable‐isotope labeling, bioinformatics, and mutagenesis, we identified the sinapigladioside biosynthesis gene cluster in the symbiont and found that an isonitrile synthase plays a key role in the biosynthetic pathway. Genome mining and network analyses indicate that related gene clusters are distributed across various bacterial phyla including…
Discovery of an Extended Austinoid Biosynthetic Pathway in Aspergillus calidoustus
2017
Filamentous fungi produce a wide range of natural products that are commonly used in various industrial contexts (e.g., pharmaceuticals and insecticides). Meroterpenoids are natural products of interest because of their various biological activities. Among the meroterpenoids, there is a group of insecticidal compounds known as the austinoids. These compounds have also been studied because of their intriguing spiro-lactone ring formation along with various modifications. Here, we present an extension of the original austinol/dehydroaustinol biosynthesis pathway from Aspergillus nidulans in the recently identified filamentous fungus Aspergillus calidoustus. Besides the discovery and elucidati…