An Orphan MbtH-Like Protein Interacts with Multiple Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetases inMyxococcus xanthusDK1622

ABSTRACTOne mechanism by which bacteria and fungi produce bioactive natural products is the use of nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Many NRPSs in bacteria require members of the MbtH-like protein (MLP) superfamily for their solubility or function. Although MLPs are known to interact with the adenylation domains of NRPSs, the role MLPs play in NRPS enzymology has yet to be elucidated. MLPs are nearly always encoded within the biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) that also code for the NRPSs that interact with the MLP. Here, we identify 50 orphan MLPs from diverse bacteria. An orphan MLP is one that is encoded by a gene that is not directly adjacent to genes predicted to be involved in nonribosomal peptide biosynthesis. We targeted the orphan MLP MXAN_3118 fromMyxococcus xanthusDK1622 for characterization. TheM. xanthusDK1622 genome contains 15 NRPS-encoding BGCs but only one MLP-encoding gene (MXAN_3118). We tested the hypothesis that MXAN_3118 interacts with one or more NRPS using a combination ofin vivoandin vitroassays. We determined that MXAN_3118 interacts with at least seven NRPSs from distinct BGCs. We show that one of these BGCs codes for NRPS enzymology that likely produces a valine-rich natural product that inhibits the clumping ofM. xanthusDK1622 in liquid culture. MXAN_3118 is the first MLP to be identified that naturally interacts with multiple NRPS systems in a single organism. The finding of an MLP that naturally interacts with multiple NRPS systems suggests it may be harnessed as a “universal” MLP for generating functional hybrid NRPSs.IMPORTANCEMbtH-like proteins (MLPs) are essential accessory proteins for the function of many nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). We identified 50 MLPs from diverse bacteria that are coded by genes that are not located near any NRPS-encoding biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). We define these as orphan MLPs because their NRPS partner(s) is unknown. Investigations into the orphan MLP fromMyxococcus xanthusDK1622 determined that it interacts with NRPSs from at least seven distinct BGCs. Support for these MLP-NRPS interactions came from the use of a bacterial two-hybrid assay and copurification of the MLP with various NRPSs. The flexibility of this MLP to naturally interact with multiple NRPSs led us to hypothesize that this MLP may be used as a “universal” MLP during the construction of functional hybrid NRPSs.

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In Vitro CRISPR/Cas9 System for Efficient Targeted DNA Editing

mBio ◽

10.1128/mbio.01714-15 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 (6) ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Yunkun Liu ◽

Weixin Tao ◽

Shishi Wen ◽

Zhengyuan Li ◽

Anna Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Polymerase ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Dna Fragments ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Highly Efficient ◽

Dna Editing

ABSTRACT The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system, an RNA-guided nuclease for specific genome editing in vivo, has been adopted in a wide variety of organisms. In contrast, the in vitro application of the CRISPR/Cas9 system has rarely been reported. We present here a highly efficient in vitro CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing (ICE) system that allows specific refactoring of biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces bacteria and other large DNA fragments. Cleavage by Cas9 of circular pUC18 DNA was investigated here as a simple model, revealing that the 3′→5′ exonuclease activity of Cas9 generates errors with 5 to 14 nucleotides (nt) randomly missing at the editing joint. T4 DNA polymerase was then used to repair the Cas9-generated sticky ends, giving substantial improvement in editing accuracy. Plasmid pYH285 and cosmid 10A3, harboring a complete biosynthetic gene cluster for the antibiotics RK-682 and holomycin, respectively, were subjected to the ICE system to delete the rkD and homE genes in frame. Specific insertion of the ampicillin resistance gene (bla) into pYH285 was also successfully performed. These results reveal the ICE system to be a rapid, seamless, and highly efficient way to edit DNA fragments, and a powerful new tool for investigating and engineering biosynthetic gene clusters. IMPORTANCE Recent improvements in cloning strategies for biosynthetic gene clusters promise rapid advances in understanding and exploiting natural products in the environment. For manipulation of such biosynthetic gene clusters to generate valuable bioactive compounds, efficient and specific gene editing of these large DNA fragments is required. In this study, a highly efficient in vitro DNA editing system has been established. When combined with end repair using T4 DNA polymerase, Cas9 precisely and seamlessly catalyzes targeted editing, including in-frame deletion or insertion of the gene(s) of interest. This in vitro CRISPR editing (ICE) system promises a step forward in our ability to engineer biosynthetic pathways.

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A Two-Step Mechanism for the Activation of Actinorhodin Export and Resistance in Streptomyces coelicolor

mBio ◽

10.1128/mbio.00191-12 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Ye Xu ◽

Andrew Willems ◽

Catherine Au-yeung ◽

Kapil Tahlan ◽

Justin R. Nodwell

Keyword(s):

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

Streptomyces Coelicolor ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Cluster ◽

Resistance Mechanisms ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Content Type

ABSTRACT Many microorganisms produce secondary metabolites that have antibiotic activity. To avoid self-inhibition, the producing cells often encode cognate export and/or resistance mechanisms in the biosynthetic gene clusters for these molecules. Actinorhodin is a blue-pigmented antibiotic produced by Streptomyces coelicolor. The actAB operon, carried in the actinorhodin biosynthetic gene cluster, encodes two putative export pumps and is regulated by the transcriptional repressor protein ActR. In this work, we show that normal actinorhodin yields require actAB expression. Consistent with previous in vitro work, we show that both actinorhodin and its 3-ring biosynthetic intermediates [e.g., (S)-DNPA] can relieve repression of actAB by ActR in vivo. Importantly, an ActR mutant that interacts productively with (S)-DNPA but not with actinorhodin responds to the actinorhodin biosynthetic pathway with the induction of actAB and normal yields of actinorhodin. This suggests that the intermediates are sufficient to trigger the export genes in actinorhodin-producing cells. We further show that actinorhodin-producing cells can induce actAB expression in nonproducing cells; however, in this case actinorhodin is the most important signal. Finally, while the “intermediate-only” ActR mutant permits sufficient actAB expression for normal actinorhodin yields, this expression is short-lived. Sustained culture-wide expression requires a subsequent actinorhodin-mediated signaling step, and the defect in this response causes widespread cell death. These results are consistent with a two-step model for actinorhodin export and resistance where intermediates trigger initial expression for export from producing cells and actinorhodin then triggers sustained export gene expression that confers culture-wide resistance. IMPORTANCE Understanding the links between antibiotic resistance and biosynthesis is important for our efforts to manipulate secondary metabolism. For example, many secondary metabolites are produced at low levels; our work suggests that manipulating export might be one way to enhance yields of these molecules. It also suggests that understanding resistance will be relevant to the generation of novel secondary metabolites through the creation of synthetic secondary metabolic gene clusters. Finally, these cognate resistance mechanisms are related to mechanisms that arise in pathogenic bacteria, and understanding them is relevant to our ability to control microbial infections clinically.

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Genomic and Chemical Diversity of Bacillus subtilis Secondary Metabolites against Plant Pathogenic Fungi

mSystems ◽

10.1128/msystems.00770-20 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Heiko T. Kiesewalter ◽

Carlos N. Lozano-Andrade ◽

Mario Wibowo ◽

Mikael L. Strube ◽

Gergely Maróti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bacillus Subtilis ◽

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Pathogenic Fungus ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Chemical Diversity ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Nonribosomal Peptide ◽

Content Type ◽

Wide Range

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis produces a wide range of secondary metabolites providing diverse plant growth-promoting and biocontrol abilities. These secondary metabolites include nonribosomal peptides with strong antimicrobial properties, causing either cell lysis, pore formation in fungal membranes, inhibition of certain enzymes, or bacterial protein synthesis. However, the natural products of B. subtilis are mostly studied either in laboratory strains or in individual isolates, and therefore, a comparative overview of secondary metabolites from various environmental B. subtilis strains is missing. In this study, we isolated 23 B. subtilis strains from 11 sampling sites, compared the fungal inhibition profiles of wild types and their nonribosomal peptide mutants, followed the production of targeted lipopeptides, and determined the complete genomes of 13 soil isolates. We discovered that nonribosomal peptide production varied among B. subtilis strains coisolated from the same soil samples. In vitro antagonism assays revealed that biocontrol properties depend on the targeted plant pathogenic fungus and the tested B. subtilis isolate. While plipastatin alone is sufficient to inhibit Fusarium spp., a combination of plipastatin and surfactin is required to hinder growth of Botrytis cinerea. Detailed genomic analysis revealed that altered nonribosomal peptide production profiles in specific isolates are due to missing core genes, nonsense mutation, or potentially altered gene regulation. Our study combines microbiological antagonism assays with chemical nonribosomal peptide detection and biosynthetic gene cluster predictions in diverse B. subtilis soil isolates to provide a broader overview of the secondary metabolite chemodiversity of B. subtilis. IMPORTANCE Secondary or specialized metabolites with antimicrobial activities define the biocontrol properties of microorganisms. Members of the Bacillus genus produce a plethora of secondary metabolites, of which nonribosomally produced lipopeptides in particular display strong antifungal activity. To facilitate the prediction of the biocontrol potential of new Bacillus subtilis isolates, we have explored the in vitro antifungal inhibitory profiles of recent B. subtilis isolates, combined with analytical natural product chemistry, mutational analysis, and detailed genome analysis of biosynthetic gene clusters. Such a comparative analysis helped to explain why selected B. subtilis isolates lack the production of certain secondary metabolites.

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Biosynthesis of isonitrile lipopeptides by conserved nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene clusters in Actinobacteria

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1705016114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (27) ◽

pp. 7025-7030 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Nicholas C. Harris ◽

Michio Sato ◽

Nicolaus A. Herman ◽

Frederick Twigg ◽

Wenlong Cai ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Cluster ◽

Acyl Chain ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Cluster ◽

Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Nonribosomal Peptide ◽

Peptide Synthetase

A putative lipopeptide biosynthetic gene cluster is conserved in many species of Actinobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and M. marinum, but the specific function of the encoding proteins has been elusive. Using both in vivo heterologous reconstitution and in vitro biochemical analyses, we have revealed that the five encoding biosynthetic enzymes are capable of synthesizing a family of isonitrile lipopeptides (INLPs) through a thio-template mechanism. The biosynthesis features the generation of isonitrile from a single precursor Gly promoted by a thioesterase and a nonheme iron(II)-dependent oxidase homolog and the acylation of both amino groups of Lys by the same isonitrile acyl chain facilitated by a single condensation domain of a nonribosomal peptide synthetase. In addition, the deletion of INLP biosynthetic genes in M. marinum has decreased the intracellular metal concentration, suggesting the role of this biosynthetic gene cluster in metal transport.

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Pangenome Analysis of Enterobacteria Reveals Richness of Secondary Metabolite Gene Clusters and their Associated Gene Sets

10.1101/781328 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Omkar S. Mohite ◽

Colton J. Lloyd ◽

Jonathan M. Monk ◽

Tilmann Weber ◽

Bernhard O. Palsson

Keyword(s):

Secondary Metabolite ◽

Soil Bacteria ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Type Vi Secretion System ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Nonribosomal Peptide ◽

Peptide Synthetases ◽

Type Vi Secretion ◽

Gene Sets

AbstractThe growing number of sequenced genomes enables the study of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (BGC) in phyla beyond well-studied soil bacteria. We mined 2627 enterobacterial genomes to detect 8604 BGCs, including nonribosomal peptide synthetases, siderophores, polyketide-nonribosomal peptide hybrids, and 60 other BGC types, with an average of around 3.3 BGCs per genome. These BGCs represented 212 distinct BGC families, of which only 20 have associated products in the MIBiG standard database with functions such as siderophores, antibiotics, and genotoxins. Pangenome analysis identified genes associated with a specific BGC encoding for colon cancer-related colibactin. In one example, we associated genes involved in the type VI secretion system with the presence of a colibactin BGC inEscherichia. This richness of BGCs in enterobacteria opens up the possibility to discover novel secondary metabolites, their physiological roles and provides a guide to identify and understand PKS associated gene sets.

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Impact on Multiple Antibiotic Pathways Reveals MtrA as a Master Regulator of Antibiotic Production in Streptomyces spp. and Potentially in Other Actinobacteria

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.01201-20 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 86 (20) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Yanping Zhu ◽

Peipei Zhang ◽

Jing Zhang ◽

Jiao Wang ◽

Yinhua Lu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antibiotic Production ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Type I ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Regulatory Factor ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Master Regulator ◽

Altered Expression ◽

Content Type

ABSTRACT Regulation of antibiotic production by Streptomyces is complex. We report that the response regulator MtrA is a master regulator for antibiotic production in Streptomyces. Deletion of MtrA altered production of actinorhodin, undecylprodigiosin, calcium-dependent antibiotic, and the yellow-pigmented type I polyketide and resulted in altered expression of the corresponding gene clusters in S. coelicolor. Integrated in vitro and in vivo analyses identified MtrA binding sites upstream of cdaR, actII-orf4, and redZ and between cpkA and cpkD. MtrA disruption also led to marked changes in chloramphenicol and jadomycin production and in transcription of their biosynthetic gene clusters (cml and jad, respectively) in S. venezuelae, and MtrA sites were identified within cml and jad. MtrA also recognized predicted sites within the avermectin and oligomycin pathways in S. avermitilis and in the validamycin gene cluster of S. hygroscopicus. The regulator GlnR competed for several MtrA sites and impacted production of some antibiotics, but its effects were generally less dramatic than those of MtrA. Additional potential MtrA sites were identified in a range of other antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces species and other actinobacteria. Overall, our study suggests a universal role for MtrA in antibiotic production in Streptomyces and potentially other actinobacteria. IMPORTANCE In natural environments, the ability to produce antibiotics helps the producing host to compete with surrounding microbes. In Streptomyces, increasing evidence suggests that the regulation of antibiotic production is complex, involving multiple regulatory factors. The regulatory factor MtrA is known to have additional roles beyond controlling development, and using bioassays, transcriptional studies, and DNA-binding assays, our study identified MtrA recognition sequences within multiple antibiotic pathways and indicated that MtrA directly controls the production of multiple antibiotics. Our analyses further suggest that this role of MtrA is evolutionarily conserved in Streptomyces species, as well as in other actinobacterial species, and also suggest that MtrA is a major regulatory factor in antibiotic production and in the survival of actinobacteria in nature.

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Phylogenetic Distribution of Secondary Metabolites in the Bacillus subtilis Species Complex

mSystems ◽

10.1128/msystems.00057-21 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Kat Steinke ◽

Omkar S. Mohite ◽

Tilmann Weber ◽

Ákos T. Kovács

Keyword(s):

Bacillus Subtilis ◽

Secondary Metabolites ◽

Secondary Metabolite ◽

Species Complex ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Content Type ◽

Frameshift Mutations ◽

Metabolite Production

ABSTRACT Microbes produce a plethora of secondary (or specialized) metabolites that, although not essential for primary metabolism, benefit them to survive in the environment, communicate, and influence cell differentiation. Biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs), responsible for the production of these secondary metabolites, are readily identifiable on bacterial genome sequences. Understanding the phylogeny and distribution of BGCs helps us to predict the natural product synthesis ability of new isolates. Here, we examined 310 genomes from the Bacillus subtilis group, determined the inter- and intraspecies patterns of absence/presence for all BGCs, and assigned them to defined gene cluster families (GCFs). This allowed us to establish patterns in the distribution of both known and unknown products. Further, we analyzed variations in the BGC structures of particular families encoding natural products, such as plipastatin, fengycin, iturin, mycosubtilin, and bacillomycin. Our detailed analysis revealed multiple GCFs that are species or clade specific and a few others that are scattered within or between species, which will guide exploration of the chemodiversity within the B. subtilis group. Surprisingly, we discovered that partial deletion of BGCs and frameshift mutations in selected biosynthetic genes are conserved within phylogenetically related isolates, although isolated from around the globe. Our results highlight the importance of detailed genomic analysis of BGCs and the remarkable phylogenetically conserved erosion of secondary metabolite biosynthetic potential in the B. subtilis group. IMPORTANCE Members of the B. subtilis species complex are commonly recognized producers of secondary metabolites, among those, the production of antifungals, which makes them promising biocontrol strains. While there are studies examining the distribution of well-known secondary metabolites in Bacilli, intraspecies clade-specific distribution has not been systematically reported for the B. subtilis group. Here, we report the complete biosynthetic potential within the B. subtilis group to explore the distribution of the biosynthetic gene clusters and to reveal an exhaustive phylogenetic conservation of secondary metabolite production within Bacillus that supports the chemodiversity within this species complex. We identify that certain gene clusters acquired deletions of genes and particular frameshift mutations, rendering them inactive for secondary metabolite biosynthesis, a conserved genetic trait within phylogenetically conserved clades of certain species. The overview guides the assignment of the secondary metabolite production potential of newly isolated Bacillus strains based on genome sequence and phylogenetic relatedness.

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Functional Genome Mining for Metabolites Encoded by Large Gene Clusters through Heterologous Expression of a Whole-Genome Bacterial Artificial Chromosome Library in Streptomyces spp.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.01383-16 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 82 (19) ◽

pp. 5795-5805 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

Min Xu ◽

Yemin Wang ◽

Zhilong Zhao ◽

Guixi Gao ◽

Sheng-Xiong Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heterologous Expression ◽

Genome Mining ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Artificial Chromosome ◽

Functional Screening ◽

Biosynthetic Pathways ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Content Type ◽

Bac Libraries

ABSTRACTGenome sequencing projects in the last decade revealed numerous cryptic biosynthetic pathways for unknown secondary metabolites in microbes, revitalizing drug discovery from microbial metabolites by approaches called genome mining. In this work, we developed a heterologous expression and functional screening approach for genome mining from genomic bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries inStreptomycesspp. We demonstrate mining from a strain ofStreptomyces rochei, which is known to produce streptothricins and borrelidin, by expressing its BAC library in the surrogate hostStreptomyces lividansSBT5, and screening for antimicrobial activity. In addition to the successful capture of the streptothricin and borrelidin biosynthetic gene clusters, we discovered two novel linear lipopeptides and their corresponding biosynthetic gene cluster, as well as a novel cryptic gene cluster for an unknown antibiotic fromS. rochei. This high-throughput functional genome mining approach can be easily applied to other streptomycetes, and it is very suitable for the large-scale screening of genomic BAC libraries for bioactive natural products and the corresponding biosynthetic pathways.IMPORTANCEMicrobial genomes encode numerous cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters for unknown small metabolites with potential biological activities. Several genome mining approaches have been developed to activate and bring these cryptic metabolites to biological tests for future drug discovery. Previous sequence-guided procedures relied on bioinformatic analysis to predict potentially interesting biosynthetic gene clusters. In this study, we describe an efficient approach based on heterologous expression and functional screening of a whole-genome library for the mining of bioactive metabolites fromStreptomyces. The usefulness of this function-driven approach was demonstrated by the capture of four large biosynthetic gene clusters for metabolites of various chemical types, including streptothricins, borrelidin, two novel lipopeptides, and one unknown antibiotic fromStreptomyces rocheiSal35. The transfer, expression, and screening of the library were all performed in a high-throughput way, so that this approach is scalable and adaptable to industrial automation for next-generation antibiotic discovery.

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Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase GenespesLandpes1Are Essential for Fumigaclavine C Production in Aspergillus fumigatus

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.07249-11 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 78 (9) ◽

pp. 3166-3176 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Karen A. O'Hanlon ◽

Lorna Gallagher ◽

Markus Schrettl ◽

Christoph Jöchl ◽

Kevin Kavanagh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aspergillus Fumigatus ◽

Opportunistic Pathogen ◽

Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽

Infection Model ◽

Nonribosomal Peptide ◽

Content Type ◽

Spectrometry Analysis ◽

Peptide Synthetases ◽

Increased Sensitivity

ABSTRACTThe identity of metabolites encoded by the majority of nonribosomal peptide synthetases in the opportunistic pathogen,Aspergillus fumigatus, remains outstanding. We found that the nonribosomal peptide (NRP) synthetases PesL and Pes1 were essential for fumigaclavine C biosynthesis, the end product of the complex ergot alkaloid (EA) pathway inA. fumigatus. Deletion of eitherpesL(ΔpesL) orpes1(Δpes1) resulted in complete loss of fumigaclavine C biosynthesis, relatively increased production of fumitremorgins such as TR-2, fumitremorgin C and verruculogen, increased sensitivity to H2O2, and increased sensitivity to the antifungals, voriconazole, and amphotericin B. Deletion ofpesLresulted in severely reduced virulence in an invertebrate infection model (P< 0.001). These findings indicate that NRP synthesis plays an essential role in mediating the final prenylation step of the EA pathway, despite the apparent absence of NRP synthetases in the proposed EA biosynthetic cluster forA. fumigatus. Liquid chromatography/diode array detection/mass spectrometry analysis also revealed the presence of fumiquinazolines A to F in bothA. fumigatuswild-type and ΔpesLstrains. This observation suggests that alternative NRP synthetases can also function in fumiquinazoline biosynthesis, since PesL has been shown to mediate fumiquinazoline biosynthesisin vitro. Furthermore, we provide here the first direct link between EA biosynthesis and virulence, in agreement with the observed toxicity associated with EA exposure. Finally, we demonstrate a possible cluster cross-talk phenomenon, a theme which is beginning to emerge in the literature.

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Genome Analysis of the Fruiting Body-Forming Myxobacterium Chondromyces crocatus Reveals High Potential for Natural Product Biosynthesis

Applied and Environmental Microbiology ◽

10.1128/aem.03011-15 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 82 (6) ◽

pp. 1945-1957 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Nestor Zaburannyi ◽

Boyke Bunk ◽

Josef Maier ◽

Jörg Overmann ◽

Rolf Müller

Keyword(s):

Fruiting Body ◽

Type Strain ◽

Prokaryotic Genome ◽

Gene Clusters ◽

Trna Genes ◽

Biosynthetic Gene ◽

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters ◽

Reduced Pressure ◽

Circular Chromosome ◽

Content Type

ABSTRACTHere, we report the complete genome sequence of the type strain of the myxobacterial genusChondromyces,Chondromyces crocatusCm c5. It presents one of the largest prokaryotic genomes featuring a single circular chromosome and no plasmids. Analysis revealed an enlarged set of tRNA genes, along with reduced pressure on preferred codon usage compared to that of other bacterial genomes. The large coding capacity and the plethora of encoded secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters are in line with the capability of Cm c5 to produce an arsenal of antibacterial, antifungal, and cytotoxic compounds. Known pathways of the ajudazol, chondramide, chondrochloren, crocacin, crocapeptin, and thuggacin compound families are complemented by many more natural compound biosynthetic gene clusters in the chromosome. Whole-genome comparison of the fruiting-body-forming type strain (Cm c5, DSM 14714) to an accustomed laboratory strain which has lost this ability (nonfruiting phenotype, Cm c5 fr−) revealed genetic changes in three loci. In addition to the low synteny found with the closest sequenced representative of the same family,Sorangium cellulosum, extensive genetic information duplication and broad application of eukaryotic-type signal transduction systems are hallmarks of this 11.3-Mbp prokaryotic genome.

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