Antimycins are produced as secondary metabolites by ''

Streptomyces ''Streptomyces'', from στρεπτός (''streptós''), meaning "twisted", and μύκης (''múkés''), meaning "fungus", is the largest genus of Actinomycetota, and the type genus of the family Streptomycetaceae. Over 700 species of ''St ...

'' bacteria, a soil bacteria. These specialized metabolites likely function to kill neighboring organisms in order to provide the streptomyces bacteria with a competitive edge.

Chemical structures

Biosynthesis

Antimycins are produced by a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS)/polyketide synthase (PKS) assembly complex which acts as an assembly line for antimycin production. The assembly is genetically coded for by the ant gene family. The assembly requires 14 proteins, AntBCDEFGHIJKLMNO, which shuttle the intermediates along the assembly line through a series of

transesterification Transesterification is the process of exchanging the organic functional group R″ of an ester with the organic group R' of an alcohol. These reactions are often catalyzed by the addition of an acid or base catalyst. Strong acids catalyze the r ...

s, keto reductions,

thiol In organic chemistry, a thiol (; ), or thiol derivative, is any organosulfur compound of the form , where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. The functional group itself is referred to as either a thiol group or a sulfhydryl grou ...

ations (addition of a sulfur containing group), condensations, an
adenylations
The last two steps involving AntB and AntO are tailoring steps. The following steps describe chemically what the Ant Enzymes do in order to synthesize Antimycin. Synthesis begins with

tryptophan Tryptophan (symbol Trp or W) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Tryptophan contains an α-amino group, an α-carboxylic acid group, and a side chain indole, making it a polar molecule with a non-polar aromat ...

, an

amino acid Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the 22 α-amino acids incorporated into proteins. Only these 22 a ...

. 1. The indole ring of tryptophan, an amino acid, is opened by a pathway-specific tryptophan-2.3-dioxygnease, AntN, to make N-formyl-L-kynurenine. 2. N-formyl-L-kynurenine is converted to

anthranilate Anthranilic acid is an aromatic acid with the formula C6H4(NH2)(CO2H) and has a sweetish taste. The molecule consists of a benzene ring, ''ortho''-substituted with a carboxylic acid and an amine. As a result of containing both acidic and basic f ...

by the pathway-specific

kynureninase Kynureninase or L-Kynurenine hydrolase (KYNU) () is a PLP dependent enzyme that catalyses the cleavage of kynurenine (Kyn) into anthranilic acid (Ant). It can also act on 3-hydroxykynurenine (to produce 3-hydroxyanthranilate) and some other (3 ...

, AntP. 3.

Anthranilate Anthranilic acid is an aromatic acid with the formula C6H4(NH2)(CO2H) and has a sweetish taste. The molecule consists of a benzene ring, ''ortho''-substituted with a carboxylic acid and an amine. As a result of containing both acidic and basic f ...

is activated by the acyl-CoA ligase protein, AntF and loaded onto its cognate

carrier protein A membrane transport protein is a membrane protein involved in the movement of ions, small molecules, and macromolecules, such as another protein, across a biological membrane. Transport proteins are integral transmembrane proteins; that is they ...

, AntG, for further processing. 4. Anthranilate is converted to 3-aminosalicylate by a multicomponent

oxygenase An oxygenase is any enzyme that oxidizes a substrate by transferring the oxygen from molecular oxygen O2 (as in air) to it. The oxygenases form a class of oxidoreductases; their EC number is EC 1.13 or EC 1.14. Structure Most oxygenases contain ...

, AntHIJKL. 5. 3-Aminosalicylate is presented to the NRPS, AntC. AntC has two modules which are organized Condensation1 (C1) -Adenylation1 (A1) -Thiolation1 (T1) -Condensation2 (C2) -Adenylation2 (A2) -Ketoreduction (KR) -Thiolation2 (T2). The A1 domain activates and loads threonine, an amino acid, onto T1, followed by a C1 promoted condensation of 3-aminosalicylate and threonine. The A2 domain activates and loads

pyruvate Pyruvic acid (CH3COCOOH) is the simplest of the alpha-keto acids, with a carboxylic acid and a ketone functional group. Pyruvate, the conjugate base, CH3COCOO−, is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways throughout the cell. Pyruvic ...

onto T2. Pyruvate is reduced by the KR domain and condensed with threonine by C2 6. The

Ketosynthase Ketoacyl synthases (KSs) catalyze the condensation reaction of acyl-CoA or acyl-acyl ACP with malonyl-CoA to form 3-ketoacyl-CoA or with malonyl-ACP to form 3-ketoacyl-ACP. This reaction is a key step in the fatty acid synthesis cycle, as the resul ...

domain of PKS catalyses the

decarboxylative condensation Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes a carboxyl group and releases carbon dioxide (CO2). Usually, decarboxylation refers to a reaction of carboxylic acids, removing a carbon atom from a carbon chain. The reverse process, which is ...

between the aminoacyl

thioester In organic chemistry, thioesters are organosulfur compounds with the molecular structure . They are analogous to carboxylate esters () with the sulfur in the thioester replacing oxygen in the carboxylate ester, as implied by the thio- prefix ...

attached to AntC T2 domain and the 2-carboxy-acyl moiety attached to AntD Acetyl Carrier

Protein domain In molecular biology, a protein domain is a region of a protein's Peptide, polypeptide chain that is self-stabilizing and that Protein folding, folds independently from the rest. Each domain forms a compact folded Protein tertiary structure, thre ...

. 7. AntM catalyses the reduction of the β-keto group, which precedes the AntD TE domain – promoted release of the nine-membered

dilactone Lactones are cyclic carboxylic esters. They are derived from the corresponding hydroxycarboxylic acids by esterification. They can be saturated or unsaturated. Lactones are formed by lactonization, the intramolecular esterification of the corresp ...

8. A lipase homologue, AntO, and

acyltransferase Acyltransferase is a type of transferase enzyme that acts upon acyl In chemistry, an acyl group is a moiety derived by the removal of one or more hydroxyl groups from an oxoacid, including inorganic acids. It contains a double-bonded oxygen ...

homologue, AntB, catalyze the installation of the N-formyl group and the transesterification of the C-8 hydroxyl group, respectively, resulting in the backbone for the Antimycin family.

References

{{reflist Secondary metabolites Antibiotics

Chemical structures

Biosynthesis

See also

References