Biosynthesis of PF1022A and related cyclooctadepsipeptides

PF1022A belongs to a recently identified class of N-methylated cyclooctadepsipeptides (CODPs) with strong anthelmintic properties. Described here is the cell-free synthesis of this CODP and related structures, as well as the purification and enzymatic characterization of the responsible synthetase. For PF1022A synthesis extracts of Mycelia sterilia were incubated with the precursors L-leucine, D-lactate, D-phenyllactate, and S-adenosyl-L-methionine in the presence of ATP and MgCl(2). A 350-kDa depsipeptide synthetase, PFSYN, responsible for PF1022A synthesis was purified to electrophoretic homogeneity. Like other peptide synthetases, PFSYN follows a thiotemplate mechanism in which the substrates are activated as thioesters via adenylation. N-Methylation of the substrate L-leucine takes place after covalent binding prior to peptide bond formation. The enzyme is capable of synthesizing all known natural cyclooctadepsipeptides of the PF1022 type (A, B, C, and D) differing in the content of D-lactate and D-phenyllactate. In addition to PF1022 types A, B, C, and D, the in vitro incubations produced PF1022F (a CODP consisting of D-lactate and N-methyl-L-leucine), as well as di-, tetra-, and hexa-PF1022 homologs. PFSYN strongly resembles the well documented enniatin synthetase in size and mechanism. Our results suggest that PFSYN, like enniatin synthetase, is an enzyme with two peptide synthetase domains and forms CODP by repeated condensation of dipeptidol building blocks. Due to the low specificity of the d-hydroxy acid binding site, D-lactate or D-phenyllactate can be incorporated into the dipeptidols depending on the concentration of these substrates in the reaction mixture.