An E. coli-Based Biosynthetic Platform Expands the Structural Diversity of Natural Benzoxazoles. Academic Article

abstract

• Benzoxazoles are frequently found in synthetic pharmaceuticals and medicinally active natural products. To facilitate benzoxazole-based drug development, an eco-friendly and rapid platform for benzoxazole production is required. In this study, we have completed the biosynthesis of benzoxazoles in E. coli by coexpressing the minimal set of enzymes required for their biosynthesis. Moreover, by coupling this E. coli-based platform with precursor-directed biosynthesis, we have shown that the benzoxazole biosynthetic system is highly promiscuous in incorporating fluorine, chlorine, nitrile, picolinic, and alkyne functionalities into the scaffold. Our E. coli-based system thus paves the way for straightforward generation of novel benzoxazole analogues through future protein engineering and combinatorial biosynthesis.

authors

• Zhu, Xuejun

published proceedings

• ACS Synth Biol

altmetric score

• 14.35

author list (cited authors)

• Ouyang, H., Hong, J., Malroy, J., & Zhu, X.

citation count

• 6

complete list of authors

• Ouyang, Huanrong||Hong, Joshua||Malroy, Jeshua||Zhu, Xuejun

publication date

• September 2021

publisher

• American Chemical Society (ACS)  Publisher

published in

• ACS Synthetic Biology  Journal

keywords

• Benzoxazole
• Benzoxazoles
• Biological Products
• Biosynthetic Pathways
• Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
• Escherichia Coli
• Heterocycles
• Heterologous Expression
• Metabolic Engineering
• Multigene Family
• Natural Products
• Plasmids
• Precursor-directed Biosynthesis

PubMed Central ID

• 34530615

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00228

start page

• 2151

end page

• 2158

volume

• 10

issue

• 9

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.1c00228