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Terpenoids are among the most ubiquitous and diverse secondary metabolites observed in nature. Although actinomycete bacteria are one of the primary sources of microbially derived secondary metabolites, they rarely produce compounds in this biosynthetic class. The terpenoid secondary metabolites that have been discovered from actinomycetes are often in the form of biosynthetic hybrids called hybrid isoprenoids (HIs). HIs include significant structural diversity and biological activity and thus are important targets for natural product discovery. Recent screening of marine actinomycetes has led to the discovery of a new lineage that is enriched in the production of biologically active HI secondary metabolites. These strains represent a promising resource for natural product discovery and provide unique opportunities to study the evolutionary history and ecological functions of an unusual group of secondary metabolites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The molecular fingerprinting technique terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) was used in combination with sequence-based approaches to evaluate the geographic distribution of secondary metabolite biosynthetic genes in strains of the marine actinomycete Salinispora arenicola. This study targeted ketosynthase (KS) domains from type I polyketide synthase (PKS) genes and revealed four distinct clusters, the largest of which was comprised of strains from all six global locations sampled. The remaining strains fell into three smaller clusters comprised of strains derived entirely from the Red Sea, the Sea of Cortez, or around the Island of Guam. These results reveal variation in the secondary metabolite gene collectives maintained by strains that are largely clonal at the 16S rRNA level. The location specificities of the three smaller clusters provide evidence that collections of secondary metabolite genes in subpopulations of S. arenicola are endemic to these locations. Cloned KS sequences support the maintenance of distinct sets of biosynthetic genes in the strains associated with each cluster and include four that had not previously been detected in S. arenicola. Two of these new sequences were observed only in strains derived from Guam or the Sea of Cortez. Transcriptional analysis of one of the new KS sequences in conjunction with the production of the polyketide arenicolide A supports a link between this sequence and the associated biosynthetic pathway. From the perspective of natural product discovery, these results suggest that screening populations from distant locations can enhance the discovery of new natural products and provides further support for the use of molecular fingerprinting techniques, such as T-RFLP, to rapidly identify strains that possess distinct sets of biosynthetic genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two actinomycetes, a member of the rare halophilic genus Streptomonospora and a Nocardiopsis sp. (Nocardiopsaceae), strains CNQ-082 and CNQ-675, respectively, were isolated from marine sediments collected off shore near La Jolla, California. HPLC-UV guided fractionations of the extracts of these strains yielded marinopyrones A–D ( 1 – 4 ), the structures of which were elucidated by interpretation of 1D and 2D NMR and HRMS spectroscopic data. Oxidative ozonation, followed by conversion of the acid product to an α-naphthyl amide, provided the absolute configuration at the chiral center on the side-chain. Marinopyrones A–D were examined for the inhibitory activity on nitric oxide production in LPS-activated mouse macrophage cells (RAW 264.7); marinopyrone D ( 4 ) was inhibitory with an IC 50 value of 13 μM. To our knowledge, marinopyrones A–C are only the second reported natural products from the rare halophilic genus Streptomonospora . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine actinomycetes in the genus Salinispora fail to grow when seawater is replaced with deionized (DI) water in complex growth media. While bioinformatic analyses have led to the identification of a number of candidate marine adaptation genes, there is currently no experimental evidence to support the genetic basis for the osmotic requirements associated with this taxon. One hypothesis is that the lineage-specific loss of mscL is responsible for the failure of strains to grow in media prepared with DI water. The mscL gene encodes a conserved transmembrane protein that reduces turgor pressure under conditions of acute osmotic downshock. In the present study, the mscL gene from a Micromonospora strain capable of growth on media prepared with DI water was transformed into S. tropica strain CNB-440. The single-copy, chromosomal genetic complementation yielded a recombinant Salinispora mscL+ strain that demonstrated an increased capacity to survive osmotic downshock. The enhanced survival of the S. tropica transformant provides experimental evidence that the loss of mscL is associated with the failure of Salinispora spp. to grow in low-osmotic-strength media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new polyene macrolides, marinisporolides A and B (1, 2), were isolated from the saline culture of the marine actinomycete, strain CNQ-140, identified as a member of the new marine genus Marinispora. The marinisporolides are 34-membered macrolides composed of a conjugated pentaene and several pairs of I ,3-dihydroxyl functionalities. Marinisporolide A (1) contains a bicyclic spiro-bis-tetrahydropyran ketal functionality, while marinisporolide B (2) is the corresponding hemiketal. The structures of these new compounds were assigned by combined spectral and chemical methods including extensive 2D NMR experiments and correlations of 13C NMR data with Kishi's Universal NMR Database. Chemical modifications, including methanolysis, acetonide formation, and application of the modified Mosher method, provided the full stereostructures of these molecules. Three additional macrolides, mairinisporolides C-E (3-5), which are olefin geometric isomers of marinisporolide A (1), were also isolated and their structures defined. Under room light, marinisporolides A and B readily photoisomerize to C-E indicating that they are most likely produced by photochemical conversion during the cultivation or isolation procedures. Although polyenes, marinisporolides A (1) and B (2) showed weak to no antifungal activity against Candida albicans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new diketopiperazine dipeptides, cyclomarazines A and B, were isolated and characterized along with the new cyclic heptapeptide cyclomarin D from the marine bacterium Salinispora arenicola CNS-205. These structurally related cyclic peptides each contain modified amino acid residues, including derivatives of N-(1,1-dimethylallyl)-tryptophan and δ-hydroxyleucine, which are common in the di- and heptapeptide series. Stable isotope incorporation studies in Streptomyces sp. CNB-982, which was first reported to produce the cyclomarin anti-inflammatory agents, illuminated the biosynthetic building blocks associated with the major metabolite cyclomarin A, signifying that this marine microbial peptide is nonribosomally derived largely from nonproteinogenic amino acid residues. DNA sequence analysis of the 5.8 Mb S. arenicola circular genome and PCR-targeted gene inactivation experiments identified the 47 kb cyclomarin/cyclomarazine biosynthetic gene cluster (cym) harboring 23 open reading frames. The cym locus is dominated by the 23 358 bp cymA, which encodes a 7-module nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) responsible for assembly of the full-length cyclomarin heptapeptides as well as the truncated cyclomarazine dipeptides. The unprecedented biosynthetic feature of the megasynthetase CymA to synthesize differently sized peptides in vivo may be triggered by the level of β oxidation of the priming tryptophan residue, which is oxidized in the cyclomarin series and unoxidized in the cyclomarazines. Biosynthesis of the N-(1,1-dimethyl-2,3-epoxypropyl)-β-hydroxytryptophan residue of cyclomarin A was further illuminated through gene inactivation experiments, which suggest that the tryptophan residue is reverse prenylated by CymD prior to release of the cyclic peptide from the CymA megasynthetase, whereas the cytochrome P450 CymV installs the epoxide group on the isoprene of cyclomarin C post-NRPS assembly. Last, the novel-amino acid residue 2-amino-3,5-dimethylhex-4-enoic acid in the cyclomarin series was shown by bioinformatics and stable isotope experiments to derive from a new pathway involving condensation of isobutyraldehyde and pyruvate followed by 5-adenosylmethionine methylation. Assembly of this unsaturated, branched amino acid is unexpectedly related to the degradation of the environmental pollutant 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical evaluation of the saline fermentation broth of several strains of the obligate marine actinomycete Salinispora arenicola has led to the identification of three new macrolide polyketides designated arenicolides A-C (1-3). The planar structures, elucidated via spectroscopic and chemical methods, consist of 26-membered polyunsaturated macrolactones containing repeating vicinal hydroxyl methoxyl moieties. The relative and absolute stereochemistries of 1-3 were assigned by a combination of i-based configurational analyses and chemical derivatization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent fermentation studies have identified actinomycetes of the marine-dwelling genus Salinispora as prolific natural product producers. To further evaluate their biosynthetic potential, we sequenced the 5,183,331-bp S. tropica CNB-440 circular genome and analyzed all identifiable secondary natural product gene clusters. Our analysis shows that S. tropica dedicates a large percentage of its genome (≈9.9%) to natural product assembly, which is greater than previous Streptomyces genome sequences as well as other natural product-producing actinomycetes. The S. tropica genome features polyketide synthase systems of every known formally classified family, nonribosomal peptide synthetases, and several hybrid clusters. Although a few clusters appear to encode molecules previously identified in Streptomyces species, the majority of the 17 biosynthetic loci are novel. Specific chemical information about putative and observed natural product molecules is presented and discussed. In addition, our bioinformatic analysis not only was critical for the structure elucidation of the polyene macrolactam salinilactam A, but its structural analysis aided the genome assembly of the highly repetitive slm loci. This study firmly establishes the genus Salinispora as a rich source of drug-like molecules and importantly reveals the powerful interplay between genomic analysis and traditional natural product isolation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Licensed to kill: A new antibiotic, anthracimycin (see scheme), produced by a marine‐derived actinomycete in saline culture, shows significant activity toward Bacillus anthracis, the bacterial pathogen responsible for anthrax infections. Chlorination of anthracimycin gives a dichloro derivative that retains activity against Gram‐positive bacteria, such as anthrax, but also shows activity against selected Gram‐negative bacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptomyces sp. CNQ-509 is a marine actinomycete belonging to the MAR4 streptomycete lineage. MAR4 strains have been linked to the production of diverse and otherwise rare meroterpenoid compounds. The genome sequence of Streptomyces sp. CNQ-509 was found to contain 29 putative gene clusters for the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, some of them potentially involved in the formation of meroterpenoid molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Actinobenzoquinoline and Actinophenanthrolines A-C, Unprecedented Alkaloids from a Marine Actinobacterium" by S.-J. Nam and colleagues is presented.