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Title: Structure and Function of Fusicoccadiene Synthase, a Hexameric Bifunctional Diterpene Synthase

Journal Article · · ACS Chemical Biology
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [4]
  1. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States)
  2. Brown Univ., Providence, RI (United States)
  3. Yamagata Univ. (Japan)
  4. Univ. of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (United States); Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA (United States)

Fusicoccin A is a diterpene glucoside phytotoxin generated by the fungal pathogen Phomopsis amygdali that causes the plant disease constriction canker, first discovered in New Jersey peach orchards in the 1930s. Fusicoccin A is also an emerging new lead in cancer chemotherapy. The hydrocarbon precursor of fusicoccin A is the tricyclic diterpene fusicoccadiene, which is generated by a bifunctional terpenoid synthase. Here, we report X-ray crystal structures of the individual catalytic domains of fusicoccadiene synthase: the C-terminal domain is a chain elongation enzyme that generates geranylgeranyl diphosphate, and the N-terminal domain catalyzes the cyclization of geranylgeranyl diphosphate to form fusicoccadiene. Here, crystal structures of each domain complexed with bisphosphonate substrate analogues suggest that three metal ions and three positively charged amino acid side chains trigger substrate ionization in each active site. While in vitro incubations reveal that the cyclase domain can utilize farnesyl diphosphate and geranyl diphosphate as surrogate substrates, these shorter isoprenoid diphosphates are mainly converted into acyclic alcohol or hydrocarbon products. Gel filtration chromatography and analytical ultracentrifugation experiments indicate that full-length fusicoccadiene synthase adopts hexameric quaternary structure, and small-angle X-ray scattering data yield a well-defined molecular envelope illustrating a plausible model for hexamer assembly.

Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357; P41 GM103403; S10 RR029205
OSTI ID:
1249236
Journal Information:
ACS Chemical Biology, Vol. 11, Issue 4; ISSN 1554-8929
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
ENGLISH
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 39 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (9)

Chimeric Terpene Synthases Possessing both Terpene Cyclization and Prenyltransfer Activities journal April 2018
Production of sesterterpene ophiobolin by a bifunctional terpene synthase in Escherichia coli journal September 2019
Protonation-Initiated Cyclization by a Class II Terpene Cyclase Assisted by Tunneling journal November 2017
Cyclopentane-forming di/sesterterpene synthases: widely distributed enzymes in bacteria, fungi, and plants journal January 2018
Theoretical Study of Sesterfisherol Biosynthesis: Computational Prediction of Key Amino Acid Residue in Terpene Synthase journal February 2018
Unearthing a sesterterpene biosynthetic repertoire in the Brassicaceae through genome mining reveals convergent evolution journal July 2017
Correction to Structural and Chemical Biology of Terpenoid Cyclases journal December 2018
Dynamic Control of ERG20 and ERG9 Expression for Improved Casbene Production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae journal November 2018
Opportunities and challenges for the sustainable production of structurally complex diterpenoids in recombinant microbial systems journal May 2017

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