Polyene macrolactams are a special group of natural products with great diversity, unique structural features, and a wide range of biological activities. Herein, a cryptic gene cluster for the biosynthesis of putative macrolactams was disclosed from a sponge-associated bacterium, Streptomyces sp. DSS69, by genome mining. Cloning and heterologous expression of the whole biosynthetic gene cluster led to the discovery of weddellamycin, a polyene macrolactam bearing a 23/5/6 ring skeleton. A negative regulator, WdlO, and two positive regulators, WdlA and WdlB, involved in the regulation of weddellamycin production were unraveled. The fermentation titer of weddellamycin was significantly improved by overexpression of wdlA and wdlB and deletion of wdlO. Notably, weddellamycin showed remarkable antibacterial activity against various Gram-positive bacteria including MRSA, with MIC values of 0.10–0.83 μg/mL, and antifungal activity against Candida albicans, with an MIC value of 3.33 μg/mL. Weddellamycin also displayed cytotoxicity against several cancer cell lines, with IC50 values ranging from 2.07 to 11.50 µM.

为将生长快、发酵时间短、遗传操作便捷的稀有放线菌拟无枝酸菌TNS106开发成异源表达宿主,通过同源重组将内源的瑞斯托霉素生物合成关键基因rpsA替换为ΦC31和ΦBT1噬菌体细菌附着位点attB,清除代谢背景并引入整合位点,得到菌株HXR1;将含有来自天蓝色链霉菌的放线紫红素基因簇或来自刺糖多孢菌的多杀菌素基因簇的质粒转到HXR1进行异源表达,检测发酵产物.结果显示,HXR1成功表达放线紫红素和多杀菌素;与红色糖多孢菌宿主LJ161相比,放线紫红素的产生提前1 d,产量提高1.3倍.拟无枝酸菌异源表达宿主HXR1可为从链霉菌和稀有放线菌中发现新的次级代谢产物提供有用的平台.

An increase in the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and high expression levels of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in wound tissue are two major problems for wound repair and scar inhibition. Modulation of the wound microenvironment is considered to be able to overcome these issues. Two possible solutions include the use of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2) as an enzyme-like ROS scavenger and pirfenidone (PFD) as an anti-fibrotic drug to inhibit the expression of TGF-β. However, CeO2 is easily adsorbed by biological macromolecules and loses its enzyme-like activity. Furthermore, the intracellular delivery of PFD is difficult. Herein, the layer-by-layer method was used to prepare nanocapsules (NCs) with a sophisticated structure featuring PFD at their core and CeO2 in their shell; these NCs were referred to as PFD/CeO2 NCs. PFD/CeO2 NCs were supposed to efficiently achieve intracellular delivery of PFD and successfully scavenged ROS from the microenvironment. Cellular experiments verified that PFD/CeO2 NCs had good biocompatibility, satisfactory cellular uptake, and favorable ROS-scavenging capacity. To be applied directly to the wound, PFD/CeO2 NCs were then adhered to plasma-etched polylactic acid (PLA) fiber membranes to prepare a new wound dressing. Animal experiments further demonstrated that the dressing accelerated the epithelialization of the wound, reduced the levels of ROS and TGF-β, improved the arrangement and proportion of collagen fibers, and finally, achieved satisfactory wound-repairing and anti-scarring effects. These results provide a new concept for promoting wound repair and preventing scar formation.

Bacteria of the genus Saccharopolyspora produce important polyketide antibiotics, including erythromycin A ( Sac. erythraea ) and spinosad ( Sac. spinosa ). We herein report the development of an industrial erythromycin-producing strain, Sac . erythraea HOE107, into a host for the heterologous expression of polyketide biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) from other Saccharopolyspora species and related actinomycetes. To facilitate the integration of natural product BGCs and auxiliary genes beneficial for the production of natural products, the erythromycin polyketide synthase ( ery ) genes were replaced with two bacterial attB genomic integration sites associated with bacteriophages ϕC31 and ϕBT1. We also established a highly efficient conjugation protocol for the introduction of large bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones into Sac. erythraea strains. Based on this optimized protocol, an arrayed BAC library was effectively transferred into Sac. erythraea . The large spinosad gene cluster from Sac. spinosa and the actinorhodin gene cluster from Streptomyces coelicolor were successfully expressed in the ery deletion mutant. Deletion of the endogenous giant polyketide synthase genes pkeA1 - pkeA4 , the product of which is not known, and the flaviolin gene cluster ( rpp ) from the bacterium increased the heterologous production of spinosad and actinorhodin. Furthermore, integration of pJTU6728 carrying additional beneficial genes dramatically improved the yield of actinorhodin in the engineered Sac. erythraea strains. Our study demonstrated that the engineered Sac. erythraea strains SLQ185, LJ161, and LJ162 are good hosts for the expression of heterologous antibiotics and should aid in expression-based genome-mining approaches for the discovery of new and cryptic antibiotics from Streptomyces and rare actinomycetes.

为实现糖多孢菌的体内转座诱变,采用刺糖多孢菌的强启动子促进Tn5转座酶基因tnp(5)的表达,优化链霉菌高效转座质粒pHL734,构建了转座质粒pJTn1、pJTn2、pJTn3、pJTn4、pJTn5、pJTn6.结果显示:pJTn1～pJTn6系列转座质粒均可在红色糖多孢菌中高效转座;pJTn1和pJTn5可在刺糖多孢菌中进行转座,获得31个刺糖多孢菌转座突变株;其中30个菌株的基因组中检测到标准的Tn5转座,8个突变株的多杀菌素产量显著降低.表明pJTn系列转座质粒可作为糖多孢菌的体内转座诱变工具,为抗生素的产量调控研究和高产育种靶标基因筛选提供理论依据.

Hybrubins are an emerging class of prodiginines possessing a new C ring derived from 5′-substituted tetramic acids and the methylene bridge connecting the C ring at a different position. We have supposed that condensation between 4′-methoxy-2,2′-bipyrrole-5′-carbaldehyde (MBC) and 5-ethylidenetetramic acid (ETA) yields the hybrid natural products hybrubins, which was proposed to be catalyzed by the undecylprodigiosin synthetase RedH. However, it is doubted whether RedH is able to catalyze another type of condensation between MBC and tetramic acids. In this study, we have demonstrated that the MBC-ETA condensation proceeds through RedH/PigC-catalyzed enzymatic activation of MBC via phosphorylation and a nonenzymatic condensation of Pi-MBC with ETA. Since MBC analogues have been shown to be accepted by PigC, more hybrubin analogues might be produced by using combinations of MBC analogues and other tetramic acids in future studies.