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Assigning valid functions to proteins identified in genome projects is challenging: overprediction and database annotation errors are the principal concerns (1). We and others (2) are developing computation-guided strategies for [...]

Terpenoids are a large structurally diverse group of natural products with an array of functions in their hosts. The large amount of genomic information from recent sequencing efforts provides opportunities and challenges for the functional assignment of terpene synthases that construct the carbon skeletons of these compounds. Inferring function from the sequence and/or structure of these enzymes is not trivial because of the large number of possible reaction channels and products. We tackle this problem by developing an algorithm to enumerate possible carbocations derived from the farnesyl cation, the first reactive intermediate of the substrate, and evaluating their steric and electrostatic compatibility with the active site. The homology model of a putative pentalenene synthase (Uniprot: B5GLM7) from Streptomyces clavuligerus was used in an automated computational workflow for product prediction. Surprisingly, the workflow predicted a linear triquinane scaffold as the top product skeleton for B5GLM7. Biochemical characterization of B5GLM7 reveals the major product as (5S,7S,10R,11S)-cucumene, a sesquiterpene with a linear triquinane scaffold. To our knowledge, this is the first documentation of a terpene synthase involved in the synthesis of a linear triquinane. The success of our prediction for B5GLM7 suggests that this approach can be used to facilitate the functional assignment of novel terpene synthases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large-scale activity profiling of enzyme superfamilies provides information about cellular functions as well as the intrinsic binding capabilities of conserved folds. Herein, the functional space of the ubiquitous haloalkanoate dehalogenase superfamily (HADSF) was revealed by screening a customized substrate library against >200 enzymes from representative prokaryotic species, enabling inferred annotation of ~35% of the HADSF. An extremely high level of substrate ambiguity was revealed, with the majority of HADSF enzymes using more than five substrates. Substrate profiling allowed assignment of function to previously unannotated enzymes with known structure, uncovered potential new pathways, and identified isofunctional orthologs from evolutionarily distant taxonomic groups. Intriguingly, the HADSF subfamily having the least structural elaboration of the Rossmann fold catalytic domain was the most specific, consistent with the concept that domain insertions drive the evolution of new functions and that the broad specificity observed in HADSF may be a relic of this process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Squalene (SQ) is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of sterols in eukaryotes and a few bacteria and of hopanoids in bacteria where they promote membrane stability and the formation of lipid rafts in their hosts. The genes for hopanoid biosynthesis are typically located on clusters that consist of four highly conserved genes- hpnC , hpnD , hpnE , and hpnF -for conversion of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) to hopene or related pentacyclic metabolites. While hpnF is known to encode a squalene cyclase, the functions for hpnC , hpnD , and hpnE are not rigorously established. The hpnC , hpnD , and hpnE genes from Zymomonas mobilis and Rhodopseudomonas palustris were cloned into Escherichia coli , a bacterium that does not contain genes homologous to hpnC , hpnD , and hpnE , and their functions were established in vitro and in vivo . HpnD catalyzes formation of presqualene diphosphate (PSPP) from two molecules of FPP; HpnC converts PSPP to hydroxysqualene (HSQ); and HpnE, a member of the amine oxidoreductase family, reduces HSQ to SQ. Collectively the reactions catalyzed by these three enzymes constitute a new pathway for biosynthesis of SQ in bacteria.