HOW TWO ENZYMATIC ROADS DIVERGE INTO SEPARATE NATURAL PRODUCTS

摘要

Wilfred A. van der Donk and colleagues have determined how two highly similar enzymes generate different natural products from the same substrate (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b00282). Two nonheme iron oxygenases, 2-hydroxyethylphosphonate dioxygenase (HEPD) and methylphosphonate synthase (MPnS), act on the same phosphonate substrate and have similar sequences, but produce two distinct products. In soil-dwelling bacteria, HEPD converts 2-hydroxyethylphosphonate (2-HEP) to hydroxymethylphosphonate and formate during biosynthesis of an herbicide. In contrast, in archaea found in the ocean, MPnS converts 2-HEP to methylphosphonate.