https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Index en-au 5 Directing the heterologous production of specific cyanobacterial toxin variants https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:31345 Escherichia coli to produce [ᴅ-Asp3]microcystin-LR and microcystin-LR. We assembled a 55 kb hybrid polyketide synthase/nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene cluster from Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 using Red/ET recombineering and replaced the native promoters with an inducible PtetO promoter to yield microcystin titers superior to M. aeruginosa. The expression platform described herein can be tailored to heterologously produce a wide variety of microcystin variants, and potentially other cyanobacterial natural products of commercial relevance.]]> Wed 24 Nov 2021 15:51:49 AEDT ]]> Heterologous expression and biochemical characterisation of cyanotoxin biosynthesis pathways https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:37449 Thu 14 Apr 2022 11:00:25 AEST ]]> Mutagenesis of the microcystin tailoring and transport proteins in a heterologous cyanotoxin expression system https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:48515 mcyA-J. The recent establishment of a cyanotoxin heterologous expression system in Escherichia coli has provided the means to study microcystin biosynthesis in a genetically tractable, rapidly growing host. Using this system, we demonstrate that deletion of the ABC-transporter, mcyH, and dehydrogenase, mcyI, abolishes microcystin production, while deletion of the O-methyltransferase, mcyJ, results in the production of the demethylated (DM) toxin [D-Asp3 , DMAdda 5]microcystin-LR. Both methylated and DM toxin variants were heterologously produced at high titers and efficiently exported into the extracellular medium, enabling easy purification. The results show that the mcy gene cluster can be engineered in E. coli to study the function of its individual components and direct the synthesis of particular microcystin variants. This technology could potentially be applied to other natural products of ecological and biomedical significance.]]> Mon 20 Mar 2023 16:46:36 AEDT ]]> Genome mining and evolutionary analysis reveal diverse Type III polyketide synthase pathways in cyanobacteria https://ogma.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/ /manager/Repository/uon:39205 3) compared with enzymes from other organisms. The size of the active site did not correlate well with substrate size, however, the "Gatekeeper" amino acid residues within the active site were strongly correlated to enzyme phylogeny. Our study provides unprecedented insight into the distribution, diversity, and molecular evolution of cyanobacterial type III PKSs, which could facilitate the discovery, characterization, and exploitation of novel enzymes, biochemical pathways, and specialized metabolites from this biosynthetically talented clade of microorganisms.]]> Fri 27 May 2022 09:52:31 AEST ]]>