AbnI: An α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase involved in brassicicene C H functionalization and ring system rearrangement

We reported the characterization of a novel brassicicene diterpene biosynthetic gene cluster, which contains a unique α-ketoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase (αKGD) enzyme, AbnI. Our findings revealed that AbnI demonstrates remarkable substrate promiscuity and is capable of activating multiple sites on both 5-8-5 and 5-9-5 brassicicene skeletons, resulting in skeleton modifications and an unexpected ring system rearrangement. These results suggested the potential utility of AbnI as an enzymatic tool for terpene C-H functionalization. In addition, the catalytic mechanism of AbnI and its potential ecological implications were discussed.