Fig. 8: Proposed biosynthesis of cryptofolione by BioPKS pipeline. | Nature Communications

Fig. 8: Proposed biosynthesis of cryptofolione by BioPKS pipeline.

From: Merging the computational design of chimeric type I polyketide synthases with enzymatic pathways for chemical biosynthesis

Fig. 8

When prompted to suggest a biosynthesis route to the natural product cryptofolione, a potential therapeutic whose biosynthetic origin remains unknown, BioPKS pipeline calls upon RetroTide to successfully suggest a 6-module chimeric PKS that could synthesize cryptofolione exactly. This chimeric PKS selects cinnamoyl-CoA as a starter unit given the aromatic ring on one end of cryptofolione’s carbon backbone and subsequently only uses malonyl-CoA as extender units. The offloading reaction for the termination domain of this chimeric PKS is set to an intramolecular cyclization reaction so that the lactone ring on the other end of cryptofolione’s carbon backbone can be synthesized. Our PKS design lends insight into the possible biosynthetic origins of α-pyrones such as cryptofolione. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

Back to article page