Mutanofactin promotes adhesion and biofilm formation of cariogenic <i>Streptococcus mutans</i>
March 4th, 2021 by Zhong-Rui Li
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 04 March 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00745-2
The mutanofactin family of lipopeptide natural products, produced by strains of cariogenic Streptococcus mutans, promotes biofilm formation via increased cell-surface hydrophobicity and binding to extracellular DNA.Divergent biosynthesis yields a cytotoxic aminomalonate-containing precolibactin
August 22nd, 2016 by Zhong-Rui Li
Nature Chemical Biology 12, 773 (2016). doi:10.1038/nchembio.2157
Authors: Zhong-Rui Li, Jie Li, Jin-Ping Gu, Jennifer Y H Lai, Brendan M Duggan, Wei-Peng Zhang, Zhi-Long Li, Yong-Xin Li, Rong-Biao Tong, Ying Xu, Dong-Hai Lin, Bradley S Moore & Pei-Yuan Qian
Colibactin is an as-yet-uncharacterized genotoxic secondary metabolite produced by human gut bacteria. Here we report the biosynthetic discovery of two new precolibactin molecules from Escherichia coli, including precolibactin-886, which uniquely incorporates the highly sought genotoxicity-associated aminomalonate building block into its unprecedented macrocyclic structure. This work provides new insights into the biosynthetic logic and mode of action of this colorectal-cancer-linked microbial chemical.