Cyanobacterial peptides - nature's own combinatorial biosynthesis.

Area of Science:

• Biochemistry
• Molecular Biology
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Cyanobacterial secondary metabolites, particularly oligopeptides, are of significant scientific interest due to their bioactivity.
• Many cyanobacterial oligopeptides are non-ribosomal and can be classified into groups with conserved structural features.
• Structural diversity of these peptides may not directly correlate with a similarly high diversity in their biosynthetic pathways.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the biosynthesis of cyanobacterial peptides and their gene clusters.
• To explore the structural diversity within cyanobacterial peptide classes.
• To discuss the evolution and plasticity of biosynthetic genes and the functional roles of these peptides.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of cyanobacterial peptide biosynthesis.
• Analysis of conserved substructures and conserved structural properties of oligopeptides.
• Inference of homologous synthetases and genes across cyanobacterial lineages.

Main Results:

• Non-ribosomal oligopeptides are a major class of cyanobacterial secondary metabolites.
• Homologous non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) genes are ancient and widespread across cyanobacteria.
• Evolutionary events like recombination and duplication of NRPS genes likely drove the structural diversity of cyanobacterial oligopeptides.

Conclusions:

• Non-ribosomal peptide synthetase genes represent an ancient component of the cyanobacterial genome.
• These genes have evolved through duplication and recombination, contributing to the structural variety of cyanobacterial oligopeptides.
• Peptide synthetases are integral to cyanobacterial evolution, physiology, and potentially their ecological functions.