Synthesis of a Truncated Microcystin Tetrapeptide Molecule from a Partial Mcy Gene Cluster in Microcystis Cultures and Blooms.

ABSTRACT: Microcystis spp. threaten freshwater ecosystems through the proliferation of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) and production of the hepatotoxin, microcystin. While microcystin and its biosynthesis pathway, encoded by the mcy genes, have been well studied for over 50 years, a recent study found that Microcystis populations in western Lake Erie contain a transcriptionally active partial mcy operon, in which the A2 domain of mcyA and mcyB-C are present but the mcyD-J genes are absent. Here, we investigate the potential biosynthetic products and the evolutionary history of this partial operon. Our results reveal two candidate tetrapeptide constructs, with an X variable position, to be produced by strains with the partial operon. T

SUBMITTER: Yancey CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11647769 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature