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Initiation of the flexirubin biosynthesis in Chitinophaga pinensis
Tim A Schöner1, Sebastian W Fuchs, Christian Schönau
1Merck Stiftungsprofessur für Molekulare Biotechnologie, Fachbereich Biowissenschaften, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, Frankfurt am Main, 60438, Germany.
Abstract:
Bacteria from the Bacteroidetes phylum are known producers of the chemotaxonomic relevant flexirubins. These orange pigments comprise a non-isoprenoid aryl-polyene carboxylic acid esterified with a dialkylresorcinol. Herein, we report a gene cluster from Chitinophaga pinensis encoding the biosynthesis of the polyene moiety and the biochemical characterization of a tyrosine ammonia-lyase and a 4-coumarate-CoA ligase responsible for the initiation of the polyene biosynthesis. Additionally, the flexirubin of C. pinensis was characterized by a combination of feeding experiments, high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.
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