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Updated: Jun 30, 2026

From a Natural Product to Its Biosynthetic Gene Cluster: A Demonstration Using Polyketomycin from Streptomyces diastatochromogenes Tü6028
Published on: January 13, 2017
Isoprenoid-like alkylations in polyketide biosynthesis
1Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, 240 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. ccalder2@macalester.edu
Abstract:
Polyketides are secondary metabolites biosynthesized by the iterative Claisen condensation of malonate units. Despite utilizing only a small set of biochemical transformations, the polyketide biosynthetic machinery yields products of striking structural complexity and diversity. Recently, a new polyketide alkylation pathway was characterized that allows access to "beta-branched" structures. This Highlight will describe this alkylation sequence, with special emphasis on its parallels to isoprenoid biosynthesis from primary metabolism and the scope of structures accessible via this pathway.
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