The identification of bacillaene, the product of the PksX megacomplex in Bacillus subtilis.

ABSTRACT: The approximately 80-kb pksX gene cluster in Bacillus subtilis encodes an unusual hybrid polyketide/nonribosomal peptide synthase that has been linked to the production of the uncharacterized antibiotic bacillaene. Multiple copies of this synthase, each similar in size to the ribosome, assemble into a single organelle-like complex with a mass of tens to hundreds of megadaltons. The resource requirements of the assembled megacomplex suggest that bacillaene has an important biological role. By coupling a differential NMR spectroscopic technique with genetically manipulated strains of B. subtilis, we were able to characterize the structure of this unusual secondary metabolite, which could not be predicted by using bioinformatic analysis. We report that bacillaene is a linear molecule with two

SUBMITTER: Butcher RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1785240 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature