Construction of the octose 8-phosphate intermediate in lincomycin A biosynthesis: Characterization of the reactions catalyzed by LmbR and LmbN

Eita Sasaki, Chia I. Lin, Ke Yi Lin, Hung Wen Liu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Lincomycin A is a potent antimicrobial agent noted for its unusual C1 methylmercapto-substituted 8-carbon sugar. Despite its long clinical history for the treatment of Gram-positive infections, the biosynthesis of the C 8-sugar, methylthiolincosamide (MTL), is poorly understood. Here, we report our studies of the two initial enzymatic steps in the MTL biosynthetic pathway leading to the identification of d-erythro-d-gluco-octose 8-phosphate as a key intermediate. Our experiments demonstrate that this intermediate is formed via a transaldol reaction catalyzed by LmbR using d-fructose 6-phosphate or d-sedoheptulose 7-phosphate as the C3 donor and d-ribose 5-phosphate as the C5 acceptor. Subsequent 1,2-isomerization catalyzed by LmbN converts the resulting 2-keto C8-sugar (octulose 8-phosphate) to octose 8-phosphate. These results provide, for the first time, in vitro evidence for the biosynthetic origin of the C8 backbone of MTL.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17432-17435
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume134
Issue number42
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2012 Oct 24
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Catalysis
  • Chemistry(all)
  • Biochemistry
  • Colloid and Surface Chemistry

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