The biosynthetic gene cluster for the macrolactone ring of the immunosuppressant FK506

Abstract

Biosynthesis of the macrolactone ring of FK506 involves 10 elongation cycles that mechanistically resemble the steps in fatty acid synthesis. Sequencing of a 40‐kb DNA segment of the FK506 gene cluster from Streptomyces sp. MA6548 has revealed two additional polyketide synthases (PKS) genes fkbB and fkbC which lie upstream of fkbA, a PKS gene recently shown to be responsible for the last four condensation steps of the FK506 biosynthesis [Motamedi, H., Cai, S. J., Shafiee, A. & Elliston, K. O. (1997) Eur. J. Biochem. 244, 74−80]. fkbB and fkbC are contiguous and encode respectively, the first (790 129 Da) and the second (374 438 Da) components of the FK506 polyketide synthase, a complex of three multidomain polypeptides. The predicted domain structures of FkbB and FkbC are analogous to that of FkbA and comprise 30 fatty‐acid‐synthase(FAS)‐like domains arranged in 6 modules. Each module performs a specific extension cycle in the assembly of the carbon skeleton of the FK506 macrolactone ring. The component activities for the initiation of the polyketide chain consisting of a dihydrocyclohexenylcarbonyl coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase and a dihydrocyclohexenylcarbonyl CoA reductase required for the formation of the dihydrocyclohexylcarbonyl CoA starter unit and an acyl‐carrier‐protein to which the starter unit is anchored and translocated to the appropriate site on the PKS multienzyme are located at the N‐terminal region of the FkbB polypeptide. A third gene, fkbL, lies at one end of the cluster and encodes lysine cyclodeaminase which catalyzes α‐deamination and cyclization of the lysine into pipecolate. A fourth gene fkbP located at the other end of the sequence reported here encodes a peptide synthetase required for the activation and incorporation of the pipecolate moiety into the completed acyl chain. Finally the cluster carries a gene, fkbO, whose product is presumed to carry out a post‐polyketide oxidation step of the FK506 marocycle.