Ancestral sequence reconstruction as a tool for structural analysis of modular polyketide synthases

Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) are large multi-domain enzymes critical for the biosynthesis of polyketide antibiotics. However, challenges with structural analysis limits our mechanistic understanding of modular PKSs. In this report, we explore the potential of ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) for structure analysis of target proteins. As a model, we focus on the FD-891 PKS loading module composed of ketosynthase-like decarboxylase (KS_Q), acyltransferase (AT) and acyl carrier protein (ACP) domains. We construct a KS_QAncAT chimeric didomain by replacing the native AT with an ancestral AT (AncAT) using ASR. After confirming that KS_QAncAT chimeric didomain retains similar enzymatic function to the native KS_QAT didomain, we successfully determine a high-resolution crystal structure of the KS_QAncAT chimeric didomain and cryo-EM structures of the KS_Q-ACP complex. These cryo-EM structures, which could not be determined for the native protein, exemplify the utility of ASR to enable cryo-EM single-particle analysis. Our findings demonstrate that integrating ASR with structural analysis provides deeper mechanistic insight into modular PKSs. Furthermore, applying ASR to a partial region of the targeted multi-domain proteins could expand the potential of ASR and may serve as a valuable framework for investigating the structure and function of various multi-domain proteins.