Sea Urchin Polyketide Synthase SpPks1 Produces the Naphthalene Precursor to Echinoderm Pigments.

ABSTRACT: Nearly every animal species on Earth contains a unique polyketide synthase (PKS) encoded in its genome, yet no animal-clade PKS has been biochemically characterized, and even the chemical products of these ubiquitous enzymes are known in only a few cases. The earliest animal genome-encoded PKS gene to be identified was SpPks1 from sea urchins. Previous genetic knockdown experiments implicated SpPks1 in synthesis of the sea urchin pigment echinochrome. Here, we express and purify SpPks1, performing biochemical experiments to demonstrate that the sea urchin protein is responsible for the synthesis of 2-acetyl-1,3,6,8-tetrahydroxynaphthalene (ATHN). Since ATHN is a plausible precursor of echinochromes, this result defines a biosynthetic pathway to the ubiquitous echinoder

SUBMITTER: Li F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9526445 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature