Carbon extension in peptidylnucleoside biosynthesis by radical SAM enzymes
September 19th, 2016 by Edward A Lilla
Nature Chemical Biology 12, 905 (2016). doi:10.1038/nchembio.2187
Authors: Edward A Lilla & Kenichi Yokoyama
Nikkomycins and polyoxins are antifungal peptidylnucleoside antibiotics active against human and plant pathogens. Here we report that during peptidylnucleoside biosynthesis in Streptomyces cacaoi and S. tendae, the C5′ extension of the nucleoside essential for downstream structural diversification is catalyzed by a conserved radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) enzyme, PolH or NikJ. This is distinct from the nucleophilic mechanism reported for antibacterial nucleosides and represents a new mechanism of nucleoside natural product biosynthesis.