Brief Communication abstract
Nature Chemical Biology 4, 341 - 343 (2008)
Published online: 20 April 2008 | doi:10.1038/nchembio.84
A global assembly line for cyanobactins
Mohamed S Donia1, Jacques Ravel2 & Eric W Schmidt1
More than 100 cyclic peptides harboring heterocyclized residues are known from marine ascidians, sponges and different genera of cyanobacteria. Here, we report an assembly line responsible for the biosynthesis of these diverse peptides, now called cyanobactins, both in symbiotic and free-living cyanobacteria. By comparing five new cyanobactin biosynthetic clusters, we produced the prenylated antitumor preclinical candidate trunkamide in Escherichia coli culture using genetic engineering.
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, 30 South 2000 East, Room 201, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
- Institute for Genome Sciences, Department of Microbiology & Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, USA.
Correspondence to: Eric W Schmidt1 e-mail: ews1@utah.edu
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