Pristinamycin I (PI), a streptogramin type B antibiotic produced by Streptomyces pristinaespiralis, contains the aproteinogenic amino acid L-phenylglycine. Recent sequence analysis led to the identification of a set of putative phenylglycine biosynthetic genes. Successive inactivation of the individual genes resulted in a loss of PI production. Production was restored by supplementation with externally added L-phenylglycine, which demonstrates that these genes are involved in phenylglycine biosynthesis and thus probably disclosing the last essential pristinamycin biosynthetic genes. Finally, a putative pathway for phenylglycine synthesis is proposed.
Mast YJ, Wohlleben W, Schinko E (2011) Identification and functional characterization of phenylglycine biosynthetic genes involved in pristinamycin biosynthesis in Streptomyces pristinaespiralis J Biotechnol155: 63-7
Mast YJ, Wohlleben W, Schinko E (2011) J Biotechnol155: 63-7
