Biosynthesis of Lyngbyastatins 1 and 3, Cytotoxic Depsipeptides from an Okeania sp. Marine Cyanobacterium

Lyngbyastatins (Lbns) 1 (1) and 3 (2) belong to a group of cyclic depsipeptides that inhibit cancer cell proliferation. These compounds have been isolated from different marine cyanobacterial collections, while further development of these compounds relies on their lengthy total synthesis. Biosynthetic studies of these compounds can provide viable strategies to access these compounds and develop new analogs. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of one Lbn biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC) from the marine cyanobacterium Okeania sp. VPG18-21. We initially identified 1 and 2 in the organic extract by mass spectrometry and performed the targeted isolation of these compounds, which feature a (2S,3R)-3-amino-2-methylpentanoic acid (MAP) and a (2S,3R)-3-amino-2-methylhexanoic acid (Amha) moiety, respectively. Parallel metagenomic sequencing of VPG18-21 led to the identification of a putative Lbn BGC that encodes six megaenzymes (LbnA–F), including one polyketide synthase (PKS, LbnE), four nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs, LbnB-D and -F), and one PKS-NRPS hybrid (LbnA). Bioinformatic analysis of these enzymes suggested that the BGC produces 1 and 2. Furthermore, our biochemical studies of three recombinant adenylation domains uncovered their substrate specificities, supporting the identity of the BGC. Finally, we identified near-complete Lbn-like BGCs in the genomes of two other marine cyanobacteria.