Natural product biosyntheses in cyanobacteria: A treasure trove of unique enzymes

• Jan-Christoph Kehr,
• Douglas Gatte Picchi and
• Elke Dittmann

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2011, 7, 1622–1635, doi:10.3762/bjoc.7.191

• Jan-Christoph Kehr Douglas Gatte Picchi Elke Dittmann University of Potsdam, Institute for Biochemistry and Biology, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, 14476 Potsdam-Golm, Germany 10.3762/bjoc.7.191 Abstract Cyanobacteria are prolific producers of natural products. Investigations into the biochemistry

• responsible for the formation of these compounds have revealed fascinating mechanisms that are not, or only rarely, found in other microorganisms. In this article, we survey the biosynthetic pathways of cyanobacteria isolated from freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats. We especially emphasize modular

• nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and polyketide synthase (PKS) pathways and highlight the unique enzyme mechanisms that were elucidated or can be anticipated for the individual products. We further include ribosomal natural products and UV-absorbing pigments from cyanobacteria. Mechanistic insights

2-Phenyl- tetrahydropyrimidine- 4(1H)-ones – cyclic benzaldehyde aminals as precursors for functionalised β²-amino acids

• Markus Nahrwold,
• Arvydas Stončius,
• Anna Penner,
• Beate Neumann,
• Hans-Georg Stammler and
• Norbert Sewald

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2009, 5, No. 43, doi:10.3762/bjoc.5.43

• ]. Examples are cryptophycin-1 (a highly cytotoxic depsipeptide produced by cyanobacteria Nostoc sp. GSV224 and ATCC53789) [11][12][13][14] as well as a class of lipopeptides isolated from various fungi, comprising topostatin (a topoisomerase I and II inhibitor) [15], YM-170320 (an inhibitor of ergosterol