Issue 10, 2015

Spatial regulation of a common precursor from two distinct genes generates metabolite diversity

Abstract

In secondary metabolite biosynthesis, core synthetic genes such as polyketide synthase genes usually encode proteins that generate various backbone precursors. These precursors are modified by other tailoring enzymes to yield a large variety of different secondary metabolites. The number of core synthesis genes in a given species correlates, therefore, with the number of types of secondary metabolites the organism can produce. In our study, heterologous expression of all the A. terreus NRPS-like genes showed that two NRPS-like proteins, encoded by atmelA and apvA, release the same natural product, aspulvinone E. In hyphae this compound is converted to aspulvinones whereas in conidia it is converted to melanin. The genes are expressed in different tissues and this spatial control is probably regulated by their own specific promoters. Comparative genomics indicates that atmelA and apvA might share a same ancestral gene and the gene apvA is located in a highly conserved region in Aspergillus species that contains genes coding for life-essential proteins. Our data reveal the first case in secondary metabolite biosynthesis in which the tissue specific production of a single compound directs it into two separate pathways, producing distinct compounds with different functions. Our data also reveal that a single trans-prenyltransferase, AbpB, prenylates two substrates, aspulvinones and butyrolactones, revealing that genes outside of contiguous secondary metabolism gene clusters can modify more than one compound thereby expanding metabolite diversity. Our study raises the possibility of incorporation of spatial, cell-type specificity in expression of secondary metabolites of biological interest and provides new insight into designing and reconstituting their biosynthetic pathways.

Graphical abstract: Spatial regulation of a common precursor from two distinct genes generates metabolite diversity

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
24 Mar 2015
Accepted
12 Jul 2015
First published
13 Jul 2015
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2015,6, 5913-5921

Spatial regulation of a common precursor from two distinct genes generates metabolite diversity

C. Guo, W. Sun, K. S. Bruno, B. R. Oakley, N. P. Keller and C. C. C. Wang, Chem. Sci., 2015, 6, 5913 DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01058F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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