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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2009, p. 1144-1155, Vol. 75, No. 4
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02518-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of the Complete Zwittermicin A Biosynthesis Gene Cluster from Bacillus cereus{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Brian M. Kevany,1 David A. Rasko,2 and Michael G. Thomas1*

Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706,1 Institute of Genomic Sciences and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 212012

Received 3 November 2008/ Accepted 12 December 2008

Bacillus cereus UW85 produces the linear aminopolyol antibiotic zwittermicin A (ZmA). This antibiotic has diverse biological activities, such as suppression of disease in plants caused by protists, inhibition of fungal and bacterial growth, and amplification of the insecticidal activity of the toxin protein from Bacillus thuringiensis. ZmA has an unusual chemical structure that includes a D amino acid and ethanolamine and glycolyl moieties, as well as having an unusual terminal amide that is generated from the modification of the nonproteinogenic amino acid β-ureidoalanine. The diverse biological activities and unusual structure of ZmA have stimulated our efforts to understand how this antibiotic is biosynthesized. Here, we present the identification of the complete ZmA biosynthesis gene cluster from B. cereus UW85. A nearly identical gene cluster is identified on a plasmid from B. cereus AH1134, and we show that this strain is also capable of producing ZmA. Bioinformatics and biochemical analyses of the ZmA biosynthesis enzymes strongly suggest that ZmA is initially biosynthesized as part of a larger metabolite that is processed twice, resulting in the formation of ZmA and two additional metabolites. Additionally, we propose that the biosynthesis gene cluster for the production of the amino sugar kanosamine is contained within the ZmA biosynthesis gene cluster in B. cereus UW85.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1550 Linden Drive, Madison, WI 53706. Phone: (608) 263-9075. Fax: (608) 262-9865. E-mail: thomas{at}bact.wisc.edu

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 19 December 2008.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2009, p. 1144-1155, Vol. 75, No. 4
0099-2240/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02518-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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