Polycyclic tetramate macrolactams (PoTeMs) are a family of natural products containing a tetramic acid moiety and a polycyclic system. Due to the valuable biological activities of different PoTeMs and the genetic simplicity of their biosynthetic genes, it is highly desirable to manipulate the biosynthesis of PoTeMs by swapping modification genes between different pathways. Herein, by combining the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes from different PoTeM pathways with the combamides' biosynthetic genes, the new combamides G (3), I (5), and J (6) along with the known combamides B (1), D (2), and H (4) were identified from the recombinant strains. Combamides G (3), H (4), and J (6) displayed cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines. Furthermore, our results demonstrated for the first time the substrate specificity of the PoTeM-related CYPs in vivo, which will facilitate the engineered biosynthesis of other PoTeMs in the future.
Keywords: combinatorial biosynthesis; cytochrome P450; natural products; polycyclic tetramate macrolactam.