Production of the Ramoplanin Activity Analogue by Double Gene Inactivation

PLoS One. 2016 May 5;11(5):e0154121. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154121. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Glycopeptides such as vancomycin and telavancin are essential for treating infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. But the dwindling availability of new antibiotics and the emergence of resistant bacteria are making effective antibiotic treatment increasingly difficult. Ramoplanin, an inhibitor of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis, is a highly effective antibiotic against a wide range of Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-intermediate resistant Clostridium difficile and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus sp. Here, two tailoring enzyme genes in the biosynthesis of ramoplanin were deleted by double in-frame gene knockouts to produce new ramoplanin derivatives. The deschlororamoplanin A2 aglycone was purified and its structure was identified with LC-MS/MS. Deschlororamoplanin A2 aglycone and ramoplanin aglycone showed similar activity to ramoplanin A2. The results showed that α-1,2-dimannosyl disaccharide at Hpg11 and chlorination at Chp17 in the ramoplanin structure are not essential for its antimicrobial activity. This work provides new precursor compounds for the semisynthetic modification of ramoplanin.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Actinomycetales / enzymology
  • Actinomycetales / genetics
  • Actinomycetales / metabolism
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / biosynthesis*
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Depsipeptides / biosynthesis*
  • Depsipeptides / chemistry
  • Depsipeptides / metabolism
  • Depsipeptides / pharmacology
  • Enterococcus faecalis / drug effects
  • Fermentation
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Gene Silencing
  • Glycoproteins / metabolism
  • Glycoproteins / pharmacology
  • Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Vancomycin Resistance

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Depsipeptides
  • Glycoproteins
  • ramoplanose aglycon
  • ramoplanin
  • ramoplanin A2

Grants and funding

The work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81373310 and 81573329) and Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2012ZX09301002-003). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.