A Monooxygenase from Boreostereum vibrans Catalyzes Oxidative Decarboxylation in a Divergent Vibralactone Biosynthesis Pathway

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 55; no. 18; pp. 5463 - 5466
• Main Authors: Yang, Yan-Long, Zhou, Hui, Du, Gang, Feng, Ke-Na, Feng, Tao, Fu, Xiao-Li, Liu, Ji-Kai, Zeng, Ying
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 25-04-2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Basidiomycota - chemistry; Basidiomycota - enzymology; Basidiomycota - metabolism; Biosynthesis; Biosynthetic Pathways; Boreostereum vibrans; Decarboxylation; enzymes; Hydroquinones - metabolism; Lactones - analysis; Lactones - metabolism; meroterpenoid; Mixed Function Oxygenases - metabolism; Monooxygenase; natural products; Parabens - metabolism; Quinones; natural products; enzymes; decarboxylation; meroterpenoid; biosynthesis
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201510928

The oxidative decarboxylation of prenyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate to prenylhydroquinone has been frequently proposed for the biosynthesis of prenylated (hydro)quinone derivates (sometimes meroterpenoids), yet no corresponding genes or enzymes have so far been reported. A FAD‐binding monooxygenase (VibMO1) was identified that converts prenyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate into prenylhydroquinone and is likely involved in the biosynthesis of vibralactones and other meroterpenoids in the basidiomycete Boreostereum vibrans. Feeding of 3‐allyl‐4‐hydroxybenzylalcohol, an analogue of the vibralactone pathway intermediate 3‐prenyl‐4‐hydroxybenzylalcohol, generated 20 analogues with different scaffolds. This demonstrated divergent pathways to skeletally distinct compounds initiating from a single precursor, thus providing the first insight into a novel biosynthetic pathway for 3‐substituted γ‐butyrolactones from a shikimate origin.
One to all and all from one: A monooxygenase (VibMO1) was identified that converts prenyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate into prenylhydroquinone for the biosynthesis of vibralactones and other meroterpenoids in the basidiomycete B. vibrans. Based on the traditional platform of precursor‐directed biosynthesis, divergent pathways were demonstrated to produce skeletally different compounds from a single precursor.