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Nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are multifunctional enzymes that produce a wide array of bioactive peptides. Here we show that a single tryptophan-to-serine mutation in phenylalanine-specific NRPS adenylation domains enables the efficient activation of non-natural aromatic amino acids functionalized with azide and alkyne groups. The resulting 105-fold switch in substrate specificity was achieved without appreciable loss of catalytic efficiency. Moreover, the effective communication of the modified A domains with downstream modules in dipeptide synthetases permitted incorporation of O-propargyl- L-tyrosine into diketopiperazines both in vitro and in vivo, even in the presence of competing phenylalanine. Because azides and alkynes readily undergo bioorthogonal click reactions, reprogramming NRPSs to accept non-natural amino acids that contain these groups provides a potentially powerful means of isolating, labeling, and modifying biologically active peptides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uba5 is the smallest ubiquitin-like molecule-activating enzyme and contains an adenylation domain and a C-terminal region. This enzyme only exists in multicellular organisms. The mechanism through which the enzyme recognizes and activates ubiquitin-fold modifier 1 (Ufm1) remains unknown. In this study, Uba5 adenylation domains with different C-terminal region lengths were cloned, expressed and purified. The results of an in vitro truncation assay suggest that Uba5 residues 57-363 comprise the minimal fragment required for the high-efficiency activation of Ufm1. Crystallization of Uba5 residues 57-363 was performed at 277 K using PEG 3350 as the precipitant, and crystals optimized by microseeding diffracted to 2.95 Å resolution, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 97.66, c = 144.83 Å, α = β = 90, γ = 120°. There is one molecule in the asymmetric unit; the Matthews coefficient and the solvent content were calculated to be 2.93 Å3 Da−1 and 58.1%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mammalian ACSF4-U26 (Acyl CoA synthetase family member 4), a protein of unknown function, comprises a putative adenylation domain ( AMP-binding domain) similar to those of bacterial non-ribosomal peptide synthetases, a putative phosphopantetheine attachment site, and a C-terminal PQQDH (pyrroloquinoline quinone dehydrogenase)-related domain. Orthologues comprising these three domains are present in many eukaryotes including plants. Remarkably, the adenylation domain of plant ACSF4-U26 show greater identity with Ebony, the insect enzyme that ligates β-alanine to several amines, than with vertebrate or insect ACSF4-U26, and prediction of its specificity suggests that it activates β-alanine. In the presence of ATP, purified mouse recombinant ACSF4-U26 progressively formed a covalent bond with radiolabelled β-alanine. The bond was not formed in a point mutant lacking the phosphopantetheine attachment site. Competition experiments with various amino acids indicated that the reaction was almost specific for β-alanine, and a KM of ~ 5 μ m was calculated for this reaction. The loaded enzyme was used to study the formation of a potential end product. Among the 20 standard amino acids, only cysteine stimulated unloading of the enzyme. This effect was mimicked by cysteamine and dithiothreitol, and was unaffected by absence of the PQQDH-related domain, suggesting that β-alanine transfer onto thiols is catalysed by the ACSF4-U26 adenylation domain, but is physiologically irrelevant. We conclude that ACSF4-U26 is a β-alanine-activating enzyme, and hypothesize that it is involved in a rare intracellular reaction, possibly an infrequent post-translational or post-transcriptional modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We targeted the development of an affinity probe for adenylation (A) domains that can facilitate enrichment, identification, and quantification of A domain-containing modules in nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS)-polyketide synthase (PKS) hybrids and NRPSs. A 5′-O-sulfamoyladenosine (AMS) non-hydrolyzable analogue of adenosine monophosphate (AMP) has been reported as a scaffold for the design of inhibitors exhibiting tight binding of adenylation enzymes. Here we describe the application of an affinity probe for A domains. Our synthetic probe, a biotinylated l-Phe-AMS (l-Phe-AMS-biotin) specifically targets the A domains in NRPS modules that activates l-Phe to an aminoacyladenylate intermediate in both recombinant NRPS enzyme systems and whole proteomes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) are a family of modular proteins that contain multiple catalytic domains joined in a single protein. Together, these domains work to produce chemically diverse peptides, including compounds with antibiotic activity or that play a role in iron acquisition. Understanding the structural mechanisms that govern the domain interactions has been a long-standing goal. During NRPS synthesis, amino-acid substrates are loaded onto integrated carrier protein domains through the activity of NRPS adenylation domains. The structures of two adenylation domain-carrier protein domain complexes have recently been determined in an effort that required the use of a mechanism-based inhibitor to trap the domain interaction. Here, the continued analysis of these proteins is presented, including a higher resolution structure of an engineered di-domain protein containing the EntE adenylation domain fused with the carrier protein domain of its partner EntB. The protein crystallized in a novel space group in which molecular replacement and refinement were challenged by noncrystallographic pseudo-translational symmetry. The structure determination and how the molecular packing impacted the diffraction intensities are reported. Importantly, the structure illustrates that in this new crystal form the functional interface between the adenylation domain and the carrier protein domain remains the same as that observed previously. At a resolution that allows inclusion of water molecules, additional interactions are observed between the two protein domains and between the protein and its ligands. In particular, a highly solvated region that surrounds the carrier protein cofactor is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many important toxins and antibiotics are produced by non-ribosomal biosynthetic pathways. Microcystins are a chemically diverse family of potent peptide toxins and the end-products of a hybrid NRPS and PKS secondary metabolic pathway. They are produced by a variety of cyanobacteria and are responsible for the poisoning of humans as well as the deaths of wild and domestic animals around the world. The chemical diversity of the microcystin family is attributed to a number of genetic events that have resulted in the diversification of the pathway for microcystin assembly. Results: Here, we show that independent evolutionary events affecting the substrate specificity of the microcystin biosynthetic pathway have resulted in convergence on a rare [D-Leu1] microcystin-LR chemical variant. We detected this rare microcystin variant from strains of the distantly related genera Microcystis, Nostoc, and Phormidium. Phylogenetic analysis performed using sequences of the catalytic domains within the mcy gene cluster demonstrated a clear recombination pattern in the adenylation domain phylogenetic tree. We found evidence for conversion of the gene encoding the McyA2 adenylation domain in strains of the genera Nostoc and Phormidium. However, point mutations affecting the substrate-binding sequence motifs of the McyA2 adenylation domain were associated with the change in substrate specificity in two strains of Microcystis. In addition to the main [D-Leu1] microcystin-LR variant, these two strains produced a new microcystin that was identified as [Met1] microcystin-LR. Conclusions: Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that both point mutations and gene conversion result in functional mcy gene clusters that produce the same rare [D-Leu1] variant of microcystin in strains of the genera Microcystis, Nostoc, and Phormidium. Engineering pathways to produce recombinant non-ribosomal peptides could provide new natural products or increase the activity of known compounds. Our results suggest that the replacement of entire adenylation domains could be a more successful strategy to obtain higher specificity in the modification of the non-ribosomal peptides than point mutations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusaricidins produced by Paenibacillus polymyxa DBB1709 are lipopeptide antibiotics active against fungi and Gram-positive bacteria. The cyclic hexapeptide structures of fusaricidins are synthesized by fusaricidin synthetase, a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase. The adenylation domain of the third module (FusA-A3) can recruit l-Tyr, l-Val, l-Ile, l-allo-Ile, or l-Phe, which diversifies the fusaricidin structures. Since the l-Phe-incorporated fusaricidin analog (LI-F07) exhibits more potent antimicrobial activity than other analogs, we modified a specificity-conferring sequence in the substrate binding pocket of FusA-A3 to direct the enhanced production of LI-F07. Base on comparison to the adenylation domain of gramicidin S synthetase 1 and tyrocidine synthetase 1, both of which mainly activate l-Phe, six mutant strains with altered FusA-A3 were generated using site-directed mutagenesis. M3 (I239W, I299V), M5 (I299V, G322A, V330I), and M6 (S239W, I299V, G322A, V330I) mutants produced significantly more LI-F07 than the wild-type strain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adenylation domains are critical enzymes that dictate the identity of the amino acid building blocks to be incorporated during nonribosomal peptide (NRP) biosynthesis. NRPs display a wide range of biological activities and are some of the most important drugs currently used in clinics. Traditionally, activity of adenylation domains has been measured by radioactive ATP-[32P]pyrophosphate (PPi) exchange assays. To identify adenylation domains for future combinatorial production of novel NRPs as potential drugs, we report a convenient high-throughput nonradioactive method to measure activity of these enzymes. In our assay, malachite green is used to measure orthophosphate (Pi) concentrations after degradation by inorganic pyrophosphatase of the PPi released during aminoacyl-AMP formation by action of the adenylation domains. The assay is quantitative, accurate, and robust, and it can be performed in 96- and 384-well plate formats. The performance of our assay was tested by using NcpB-A4, one of the seven adenylation domains involved in nostocyclopeptide biosynthesis. The kinetics of pyrophosphate release monitored by this method are much slower than those measured by a traditional ATP-[32P]PPi exchange assay. This observation indicates that the formation of the adenylated amino acid and its release are the rate-limiting steps during the catalytic turnover. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Much of our current knowledge on nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) is based on studies in which the full NRPS system or each protein domain is expressed in heterologous hosts. Consequently, methods to detect the endogenous activity of NRPSs, under natural cellular conditions, are needed for the study of NRPS cell biology. Here, we describe the in vivo activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) for endogenous NRPSs and its applications to the study of their activities in bacteria. Remarkably, in vitro and in vivo ABPP in the context of the surfactin producer Bacillus subtilis enabled the visualization, tracking, and imaging of an endogenous SrfAB-NRPS with remarkable selectivity and sensitivity. Furthermore, in vivo , ABPP allowed the discovery of the degradation processes of the endogenous SrfAB-NRPS in the context of its native producer bacteria. Overall, this study deepens our understanding of the properties of NRPSs that cannot be addressed by conventional methods. [Display omitted] • We developed an in vivo ABPP of NRPSs in living bacterial cells • Our chemical probe serves as a valuable tool to probe NRPS cell biology • Study highlights the degradation processes of SrfAB-NRPS in living bacterial cells Ishikawa et al. describe the in vivo activity-based protein profiling (ABPP) for endogenous nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) and its applications to the study of their activities in living bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: To engineer the substrate specificities of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS), we developed a method to display NRPS modules on M13 phages and select catalytically active adenylation (A) domains that would load azide functionalized substrate analogs to the neighboring peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) domains. Biotin conjugated difluorinated cyclooctyne was used for copper free cycloaddition with an azide substituted substrate attached to PCP. Biotin-labeled phages were selected by binding to streptavidin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Molecular screening using degenerate PCR to determine the presence of secondary metabolite genes in cyanobacteria was performed. This revealed 18 NRPS and 19 PKS genes in the 21 new cyanobacterial strains examined, representing three families of cyanobacteria ( Nostocales, Chroococales and Oscillatoriales). A BLAST analysis shows that these genes have similarities to known cyanobacterial natural products. Analysis of the NRPS adenylation domain indicates the presence of novel features previously ascribed to both proteobacteria and cyanobacteria. Furthermore, binding-pocket predictions reveal diversity in the amino acids used during the biosynthesis of compounds. A similar analysis of the PKS ketosynthase domain shows significant structural diversity and their presence in both mixed modules with NRPS domains and individually as part of a PKS module. We have been able to classify the NRPS genes on the basis of their binding-pockets. Further, we show how this data can be used to begin to link structure to function by an analysis of the compounds Scyptolin A and Hofmannolin from Scytonema sp. PCC 7110. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Adenylate forming enzymes play an important role in nature as they are involved in a number of essential biochemical pathways. In this study, we investigated the ability of a set of structurally related recombinant bacterial adenylate forming enzymes derived from nonribosomal peptide synthetases for their ability to synthesize acyl-CoAs in vitro. Adenylation-domains normally transfer their reactive aminoacyl-adenylates onto the covalently attached 4′-phosphopantetheine moiety of small carrier proteins. In detail, DltA, DhbE, GrsA-A, TycB3-A, and TycC3-A were investigated for their ability to synthesize acyl-CoAs. As reference, acetyl-CoA-synthetase (Acs) of B. subtilis was utilized, which naturally synthesizes acetyl-CoA from acetate, CoA-SH and ATP. Interestingly, all enzymes were capable of producing acyl-CoAs, albeit with differing efficiencies. Surprisingly, both CoA-SH and ATP were observed to inhibit the adenylation reaction at higher concentrations. Product quantification for kinetic determination was carried out by ESI-SIM-MS. Our results allow speculation as to evolutionary relationships within the large class of adenylate forming enzymes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Fungi from the genus Aspergillus are important saprophytes and opportunistic human fungal pathogens that contribute in these and other diverse ways to human well-being. Part of their impact on human well-being stems from the production of small molecular weight secondary metabolites, which may contribute to the ability of these fungi to cause invasive fungal infections and allergic diseases. In this study, we identified one group of enzymes responsible for secondary metabolite production in five Aspergillus species, the non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS). Hidden Markov models were used to search the genome databases of A. fumigatus, A. flavus, A. terreus, A. nidulans, and A. oryzae for domains conserved in NRPS proteins. A genealogy of adenylation domains was utilized to identify orthologous and unique NRPS among the Aspergillus species examined, as well as gain an understanding of the potential evolution of Aspergillus NRPS. mRNA abundance of the 14 NRPS identified in the A. fumigatus genome was analyzed using real-time reverse transcriptase PCR in different environmental conditions to gain a preliminary understanding of the possible functions of the NRPSs'' peptide products. Our results suggest that Aspergillus species contain conserved and unique NRPS genes with a complex evolutionary history. This result suggests that the genus Aspergillus produces a substantial diversity of non-ribosomally synthesized peptides. Further analysis of these genes and their peptide products may identify important roles for secondary metabolites produced by NRPS in Aspergillus physiology, ecology, and fungal pathogenicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Tyrocidine synthetase 1 (TY1), the initial monomodular constituent of the tyrocidine biosynthetic system, exhibits relaxed substrate specificity, however an efficient editing of the mis-activated amino acid provides for fidelity of product formation. We chose to analyse the consequence of single amino acid substitutions, in the amino acid activation site of apo-TY1, on the editing functions of the enzyme. Discrimination between L-Phe and D-Phe by apo-TY1 depends primarily on the editing reaction. Distraction of unnatural amino acid substrates, such as L-PheSer, implies that editing is not designated to select a specific mis-activated amino acid, but instead to discriminate all mis-activated amino acid analogues. It was shown that active site residues which interact with the adenylate are essential for both activation and editing. Substitution of Lys186 with arginine substantially reduces the editing capacity of the protein. Loss of amino acid discrimination ability by the apo-K186T and apo-R416T mutant proteins suggests a role of active site residues in maintaining the structural determinants for substrate selection. Inadequate conformational changes, induced by non-cognate amino acid substrates, promote ATP breakdown yielding Pi and ADP. Replacement of residue Lys186 or Arg416 enhances ATP hydrolysis implying a role in binding or adjusting of the triphosphate chain for adenylate formation and pyrophosphate cleavage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Lysobacter lactamgenus produces cephabacins, a class of β-lactam antibiotics which have an oligopeptide moiety attached to the cephem ring at the C-3 position. The nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) system, which comprises four distinct modules, is required for the biosynthesis of this short oligopeptide, when one takes the chemical structure of these antibiotics into consideration. The cpbI gene, which has been identified in a region upstream of the pcbAB gene, encodes the NRPS – polyketide synthase hybrid complex, where NRPS is composed of three modules, while the cpbK gene – which has been reported as being upstream of cpbI– comprises a single NRPS module. An in silico protein analysis was able to partially reveal the specificity of each module. The four recombinant adenylation (A) domains from each NRPS module were heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and purified. Biochemical data from ATP–PPi exchange assays indicated thatl-arginine was an effective substrate for the A1 domain, while the A2, A3 and A4 domains activatedl-alanine. These findings are in an agreement with the known chemical structure of cephabacins, as well as with the anticipated substrate specificity of the NRPS modules in CpbI and CpbK, which are involved in the assembly of the tetrapeptide at the C-3 position. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lysergyl peptide synthetase 1 catalyzes the assembly of toxic ergopeptines from activated D-lysergic acid and three amino acids. The gene encoding this enzyme in the endophytic fungus Neotyphodium lolii was analyzed and compared to a homologous gene from the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea . Each gene contained two introns, which were found in the same relative position within two modules of the gene. The 5′ ends of the two genes were unusually divergent. Signature sequences determining substrate specificity were similar in adenylation domains that recognized identical amino acids but differed within the adenylation domain for the amino acid that varies between the major ergopeptines of the two fungi. Homologues were detected in several related endophytic fungi; the tall fescue endophyte Neotyphodium coenophialum contained a divergent, second copy of the gene. Our results provide new information on the structure and distribution of this important peptide synthetase involved in ergot alkaloid biosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adenylation domains of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPS) catalyse the formation of aminoacyl adenylates, and in addition synthesize mono- and dinucleoside polyphosphates. Here, we show that NRPS systems furthermore contain an ATPase activity in the range of up to 2 Pi/min. The hydrolysis rate by apo-tyrocidine synthetase 1 (apo-TY1) is enhanced in the presence of non-cognate amino acid substrates, correlating well with their structural features and the diminishing adenylation efficiency. A comparative analysis of the functional relevance of an analogous sequence motif in P-type ATPases and adenylate kinases (AK) allowed a putative assignment of the invariant aspartate residue from the TGDLA(V)R(K) core sequence in NRPS as the Mg2+ binding site. Less pronounced variations in ATPase activity are observed in domains with relaxed amino acid specificity of gramicidin S synthetase 2 (GS2) and δ-(l-aminoadipyl)-l-cysteinyl-d-valine synthetase (ACVS), known to produce a set of substitutional variants of the respective peptide product. These results disclose new perspectives about the mode of substrate selection by NRPS. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Microcystis , the most prevalent bloom-forming cyanobacterial genus, can synthesize a variety of toxic cyanopeptides, such as hepatotoxic microcystins, protease and phosphatase-inhibitory aeruginosins, and cyanopeptolins. Most toxic cyanopeptides are nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) synthesized via nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) or hybrid NRPS/polyketide synthase pathways. In NRPS modules, adenylation domains (A-domains) can selectively recognize and activate specificity substrates. The various toxicity and enzyme-inhibiting activities of cyanopeptides are mainly decided by the molecules' structure and composition, which can be deduced according to the order and specificity of NRPS modules in NRPS gene clusters using bioinformatics approaches. Here, we performed comparative genomic analyses mainly focused on the distribution of NRPS gene clusters in association with phylogenomic relationships, and on substrate and structural predictions of A-domains in the NRPS modules for nonribosomal cyanopeptide synthesis in 36 Microcystis strains. Aeruginosin, cyanopeptolin, and microcystin biosynthesis gene clusters are the most frequently observed in the Microcystis genomes we analyzed. Phylogenomic affiliation analysis of NRPS gene cluster profiles indicates that Microcystis phylogenomic marker genes and nonribosomal cyanopeptide synthesis genes have coevolved during evolution. The NRPS A-domains for toxic cyanopeptide synthesis were characterized based on NRPS gene clusters analysis. Substrate and structure prediction indicates varied substrates of the A-domains. Selection analysis demonstrates that all A-domains encoded by aer , mcn , and mcy gene clusters are subjected to purifying selection, and positive selection has acted on some residues in core motifs and substrate binding pockets of the A-domains. In summary, our study reveals that the distribution of NRPS gene clusters in Microcystis and the diversity of the nonribosomal cyanopeptides produced relate to an evolutionary history of environmental adaptations. • Most Microcystis genomes contain nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene clusters. • NRPS genes distribution is associated with Microcystis phylogenomic relationships. • In silico prediction reveals substrates activated by adenylation domains in NRPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We demonstrated the usefulness of a hydroxamate-based colorimetric assay for predicting amide bond formation (through an aminoacyl-AMP intermediate) by the adenylation domain of nonribosomal peptide synthetases. By using a typical adenylation domain of tyrocidine synthetase (involved in tyrocidine biosynthesis), we confirmed the correlation between the absorbance at 490 nm of the l -Trp–hydroxamate–Fe 3+ complex and the formation of l -Trp– l -Pro, where l -Pro was used instead of hydroxylamine. Furthermore, this assay was adapted to the adenylation domains of surfactin synthetase (involved in surfactin biosynthesis) and bacitracin synthetase (involved in bacitracin biosynthesis). Consequently, the formation of various aminoacyl l -Pro formations was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to find out the mapping of bioactive compounds by combinational analysis of regulatory machinery pattern study and metabolomics approach. In which we isolated a highly potent Actinobacterium dagang 5 from Gulf of Manner, which shows broad-spectrum activity against several pathogens. So the isolate was used for overall metabolic profiling studies on crude extract and phylogeny pattern analysis of NRPS A-domain, which is an important gene clusters and plays vital role in production of bioactive metabolites. The result suggests that Actinobacterium dagang 5 has the potential to produce a new type of antibacterial compounds., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper., (© 2021 Biomedical Informatics.)

The gatekeeping adenylation (A) domain of the non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) selectively incorporates specific proteinogenic/non-proteinogenic amino acid into a growing peptide chain. The EntE of the enterobactin NRPS is a discrete aryl acid A-domain with 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB) substrate specificity. Reprogrammed EntE N235G variant possesses an enlarged substrate recognition site, and is capable of accepting non-native aryl acids. Biochemical characterization of this unique substrate recognition site should provide a better understanding of activi-site microenvironments. Here, we synthesized a non-hydrolysable adenylate analogue with 2-aminobenzoic acid (2-ABA), 3-aminobenzoic acid (3-ABA), and 4-aminobenzoic acid (4-ABA) and used them to calculate the apparent inhibition constants (K i app. ). Dose-response experiments using 3-ABA-sulfamoyladenosine (AMS) provided K i app. values of 596 nM for wild-type EntE and 2.4 nM for the N235G variants. These results suggest that 3-amino group of benzoic acid plays an important role in substrate recognition by the N235G variant. These findings would help designing aryl acid substrates with substituents at the 2- and 3-positions.

The recently discovered antibiotic teixobactin is produced by uncultured soil bacteria. The antibiotic inhibits cell wall synthesis of Gram-positive bacteria by binding to precursors of cell wall building blocks, and therefore it is thought to be less vulnerable to development of resistance. Teixobactin is synthesized by two nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), encoded by txo1 and txo2 genes. Like other NRPSs, the Txo1 and Txo2 synthetases are large, multifunctional, and comprised of several modules. Each module is responsible for catalysis of a distinct step of teixobactin synthesis and contains specific functional units, commonly including a condensation (C) domain, an adenylation (A) domain, and a peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) domain. Here we report the structures of the C-A bidomains of the two L-Ser condensing modules, from Txo1 and Txo2, respectively. In the structure of the C domain of the L-Ser subunit of Txo1, a large conformational change is observed, featuring an outward swing of its N-terminal α-helix. This repositioning, if functionally validated, provides the necessary conformational change for the condensation reaction in C domain, and likely represents a regulatory mechanism. In an A core subdomain, a well-coordinated Mg 2+ cation is observed, which is required in the adenylation reaction. The Mg 2+ -binding site is defined by a largely conserved amino acid sequence motif and is coordinated by the α-phosphate group of AMP (or ATP) when present, providing some structural evidence for the role of the metal cation in the catalysis of A domain., Competing Interests: Authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Microcystins are a family of chemically diverse hepatotoxins produced by distantly related cyanobacteria and are potent inhibitors of eukaryotic protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. Here we provide evidence for the biosynthesis of rare variants of microcystin that contain a selection of homo-amino acids by the benthic cyanobacterium Phormidium sp. LP904c. This strain produces at least 16 microcystin chemical variants many of which contain homophenylalanine or homotyrosine. We retrieved the complete 54.2 kb microcystin (mcy) gene cluster from a draft genome assembly. Analysis of the substrate specificity of McyB1 and McyC adenylation domain binding pockets revealed divergent substrate specificity sequences, which could explain the activation of homo-amino acids which were present in 31% of the microcystins detected and included variants such as MC-LHty, MC-HphHty, MC-LHph and MC-HphHph. The mcy gene cluster did not encode enzymes for the synthesis of homo-amino acids but may instead activate homo-amino acids produced during the synthesis of anabaenopeptins. We observed the loss of microcystin during cultivation of a closely related strain, Phormidium sp. DVL1003c. This study increases the knowledge of benthic cyanobacterial strains that produce microcystin variants and broadens the structural diversity of known microcystins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonribosomal peptide (NRP) natural products are among the most promising resources for drug discovery and development, owing to their wide range of biological activities and therapeutic applications. These peptide metabolites are biosynthesized by large multienzyme machinery known as NRP synthetases (NRPSs). The structural complexity of a number of NRPs poses an enormous challenge in their synthesis. A major issue in this field is reprogramming NRPS machineries to allow the biosynthetic production of artificial peptides. NRPS adenylation (A) domains are responsible for the incorporation of a wide variety of amino acids and can be considered as reprogramming sites; therefore, advanced methods to accelerate the functional prediction and assessment of A-domains are required. This Concept article demonstrates that activity-based protein profiling of NRPSs offers a simple, rapid, and robust analytical platform for A-domains and provides insights into enzyme-substrate candidates and active-site microenvironments. It also describes the background associated with the development and application of a method to analyze endogenous NRPS machinery in its natural environment., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Recent papers have reported dipeptides containing d-amino acids to have novel effects that cannot be observed with ll-dipeptides, and such dipeptides are expected to be novel functional compounds for pharmaceuticals and food additives. Although the functions of d-amino acid-containing dipeptides are gaining more attention, there are few reports on the synthetic enzymes that can accept d-amino acids as substrates, and synthetic methods for d-amino acid-containing dipeptides have not yet been constructed. Previously, we developed a chemoenzymatic system for amide synthesis that comprised enzymatic activation and a subsequent nucleophilic substitution reaction. In this study, we demonstrated the application of the system for d-amino acid-containing-dipeptide synthesis. We chose six adenylation domains as targets according to our newly constructed hypothesis, i.e., an adenylation domain located upstream from the epimerization domain may activate d-amino acid as well as l-amino acid. We successfully synthesized over 40 kinds of d-amino acid-containing dipeptides, including ld-, dl-, and dd-dipeptides, using only two adenylation domains, TycA-A from tyrocidine synthetase and BacB2-A from bacitracin synthetase. Furthermore, this study offered the possibility that the epimerization domain could be a clue to the activity of the adenylation domains toward d-amino acid. This paper provides additional information regarding d-amino acid-containing-dipeptide synthesis through the combination of enzymatic adenylation and chemical nucleophilic reaction, and this system will be a useful tool for dipeptide synthesis. IMPORTANCE Because almost all amino acids in nature are l-amino acids, the functioning of d-amino acids has received little attention. Thus, there is little information available on the activity of enzymes toward d-amino acids or synthetic methods for d-amino acid-containing dipeptides. Recently, d-amino acids and d-amino acid-containing peptides have attracted attention as novel functional compounds, and d-amino acid-activating enzymes and synthetic methods are required for the development of the d-amino acid-containing-peptide industry. This study provides additional knowledge regarding d-amino acid-activating enzymes and proposes a unique synthetic method for d-amino acid-containing peptides, including ld-, dl-, and dd-dipeptides., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Microbiology.)

Microcystins are a family of chemically diverse hepatotoxins produced by distantly related cyanobacteria and are potent inhibitors of eukaryotic protein phosphatases 1 and 2A. Here we provide evidence for the biosynthesis of rare variants of microcystin that contain a selection of homo-amino acids by the benthic strain Phormidium sp. LP904c. This strain produces at least 16 microcystin chemical variants many of which contain homophenylalanine or homotyrosine. We retrieved the complete 54.2 kb microcystin ( mcy ) gene cluster from a draft genome assembly. Analysis of the substrate specificity of McyB 1 and McyC adenylation domain binding pockets revealed divergent substrate specificity sequences, which could explain the activation of homo-amino acids which were present in 31% of the microcystins detected and included variants such as MC-LHty, MC-HphHty, MC-LHph and MC-HphHph. The mcy gene cluster did not encode enzymes for the synthesis of homo-amino acids but may instead activate homo-amino acids produced during the synthesis of anabaenopeptins. We observed the loss of microcystin during cultivation of a closely related strain, Phormidium sp. DVL1003c. This study increases the knowledge of benthic cyanobacterial strains that produce microcystin variants and broadens the structural diversity of known microcystins., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The adenylation domain of nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) is responsible for its selective substrate recognition and activation of the substrate (yielding an acyl-O-AMP intermediate) on ATP consumption. DhbF is an NRPS involved in bacillibactin synthesis and consists of multiple domains [adenylation domain, condensation domain, peptidyl carrier protein (PCP) domain, and thioesterase domain]; DhbFA1 and DhbFA2 (here named) are "internal" adenylation domains in the multidomain enzyme DhbF. We firstly succeeded in expressing and purifying the "internal" adenylation domains DhbFA1 and DhbFA2 separately. Furthermore, we initially demonstrated dipeptide synthesis by "internal" adenylation domains. When glycine and L-cysteine were used as substrates of DhbFA1, the formation of N-glycyl-L-cysteine (Gly-Cys) was observed. Furthermore, when L-threonine and L-cysteine were used as substrates of DhbFA2, N-L-threonyl-L-cysteine (Thr-Cys) was formed. These findings showed that both adenylation domains produced dipeptides by forming a carbon-nitrogen bond comprising the carboxyl group of an amino acid and the amino group of L-cysteine, although these adenylation domains are acid-thiol ligase using 4'-phosphopantetheine (bound to the PCP domain) as a substrate. Furthermore, DhbFA1 and DhbFA2 synthesized oligopeptides as well as dipeptides.