Production of octaketide polyenes by the calicheamicin polyketide synthase CalE8: implications for the biosynthesis...

Enediyne antibiotics are categorized according to the presence of either a 9- or 10-membered ring within their polyketide-derived core structures. Recent literature reports have favored the notion that biosynthetic divergence of the two structural families is determined by the enediyne polyketide synthases (PKSs) alone. We now disclose the simultaneous in vitro production of three octaketide polyenes by biosynthetic enzymes for the 10-membered enediyne calicheamicin gamma(1)(I), including the elusive beta-keto acid precursor to a previously described C15 methyl hexaenone. Alongside these two polyene products, we have additionally detected a hydrocarbon heptaene previously isolated only from 9-membered enediyne systems. The discovery of the heptaene in the calicheamicin system promotes a more convergent model for the early steps of enediyne biosynthesis. Furthermore, the synthesis of this set of octaketides by the enediyne PKS CalE8 and thioesterase CalE7 suggests, in contrast to recent biosynthetic proposals, that accessory enzymes may be necessary to initiate differentiation to 9- or 10-membered enediyne precursors, either by modulation of enediyne PKS activity or by interception and modification of polyketide chain-extension intermediates.