Title
Biocatalytic routes to stereo-divergent iridoids
Author
Néstor J. Hernández Lozada, Benke Hong, Joshua C. Wood, Lorenzo Caputi, Jérôme Basquin, Ling Chuang, Maritta Kunert, Carlos E. Rodríguez López, Chloe Langley, Dongyan Zhao, C. Robin Buell, Benjamin R. Lichman & Sarah E. O’Connor
Year
2022
Journal
Nature Communications
Abstract
Thousands of natural products are derived from the fused cyclopentane-pyran molecular scaffold nepetalactol. These natural products are used in an enormous range of applications that span the agricultural and medical industries. For example, nepetalactone, the oxidized derivative of nepetalactol, is known for its cat attractant properties as well as potential as an insect repellent. Most of these naturally occurring nepetalactol-derived compounds arise from only two out of the eight possible stereoisomers, 7S-cis-trans and 7R-cis-cis nepetalactols. Here we use a combination of naturally occurring and engineered enzymes to produce seven of the eight possible nepetalactol or nepetalactone stereoisomers. These enzymes open the possibilities for biocatalytic production of a broader range of iridoids, providing a versatile system for the diversification of this important natural product scaffold.
Full Article
Instrument
J-810
Keywords
natural products, enzyme