Biosynthesis of chaetochromin A, a bis(naphtho-gamma-pyrone), in Chaetomium spp

The biosynthesis of chaetochromin A, a metabolite of Chaetomium gracile, has been studied using [13CH3]methionine, sodium [1-13C]acetate, sodium [1,2-13C2]acetate, sodium [1-13C,2,2,2-2H3]acetate, and sodium [1-13C,1,1-18O2]acetate as precursors. The folding pattern of the polyketide chain in chaetochromin A, biosynthesized from sodium [1,2-13C2]acetate as the precursor, was determined to be the same as that of rubrofusarin by carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C-NMR) analysis. By using [13CH3]methionine as a precursor, the source of 2-CH3 was determined. When sodium [1-13C,2,2,2-2H3]acetate was fed, a beta-isotope-shifted peak was observed only for carbon 2. In the 13C-NMR spectra of chaetochromin A and of its hexamethyl ether derived from sodium [1-13C,1,1-18O2]acetate, isotope-shifted peaks were observed for carbons 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10a, but not for carbon 2. These results showed that oxygen 1 originated from the same unit of acetate as carbon 10a.