Probable novel MEP pathway inhibitor and its binding protein, IspG

A second isoprene unit biosynthetic pathway, via 2-C-methyl-D-erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP), was discovered in the 1990s. We screened and isolated the cyclic dipeptide, maculosin, which is a probable novel MEP pathway inhibitor, from the culture broth of Bacillus subtilis strain KN07. To identify the target enzyme of maculosin, we applied an avidin-biotin complex method using biotinylated maculosin and the lysates of seven Escherichia coli strains, each overexpressing one enzyme of the MEP pathway, and performed quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) experiments using maculosin and each enzyme. The results indicate that IspG, the sixth enzyme on the MEP pathway, was bound to maculosin.