Biosynthesis of the bacterial antibiotic 3,7-dihydroxytropolone through enzymatic salvaging of catabolic shunt products.
Hoing, L., Sowa, S.T., Toplak, M., Reinhardt, J.K., Jakob, R., Maier, T., Lill, M.A., Teufel, R.(2024) Chem Sci 15: 7749-7756
- PubMed: 38784727 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/d4sc01715c
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
8RQH - PubMed Abstract: 
The non-benzenoid aromatic tropone ring is a structural motif of numerous microbial and plant natural products with potent bioactivities. In bacteria, tropone biosynthesis involves early steps of the widespread CoA-dependent phenylacetic acid (paa) catabolon, from which a shunt product is sequestered and surprisingly further utilized as a universal precursor for structurally and functionally diverse tropone derivatives such as tropodithietic acid or (hydroxy)tropolones. Here, we elucidate the biosynthesis of the antibiotic 3,7-dihydroxytropolone in Actinobacteria by in vitro pathway reconstitution using paa catabolic enzymes as well as dedicated downstream tailoring enzymes, including a thioesterase (TrlF) and two flavoprotein monooxygenases (TrlCD and TrlE). We furthermore mechanistically and structurally characterize the multifunctional key enzyme TrlE, which mediates an unanticipated ipso -substitution involving a hydroxylation and subsequent decarboxylation of the CoA-freed side chain, followed by ring oxidation to afford tropolone. This study showcases a remarkably efficient strategy for 3,7-dihydroxytropolone biosynthesis and illuminates the functions of the involved biosynthetic enzymes.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Pharmaceutical Biology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel Klingelbergstrasse 50 4056 Basel Switzerland robin.teufel@unibas.ch.