Publications

• Overproduction, purification and characterization of FtmPT1, a brevianamide F prenyltransferase from Aspergillus fumigatus.

  Grundmann A., Li S.M.

  A putative prenyltransferase gene, ftmPT1, was identified in the genome sequence of Aspergillus fumigatus. ftmPT1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the protein FtmPT1 was purified to near homogeneity and characterized biochemically. This enzyme was found to catalyse the prenylation ... >> More

  A putative prenyltransferase gene, ftmPT1, was identified in the genome sequence of Aspergillus fumigatus. ftmPT1 was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli, and the protein FtmPT1 was purified to near homogeneity and characterized biochemically. This enzyme was found to catalyse the prenylation of cyclo-L-trp-L-Pro (brevianamide F) at the C-2 position of the indole nucleus. FtmPT1 is a soluble monomeric protein, which does not contain the usual prenyl diphosphate binding site (N/D)DXXD found in most prenyltransferases, and which does not require divalent metal ions for its enzymic activity. K(m) values for brevianamide F and dimethylallyl diphosphate were determined as 55 and 74 microM, respectively. The turnover number was 5.57 s(-1). FtmPT1 showed a high substrate specificity towards dimethylallyl diphosphate, but accepted different tryptophan-containing cyclic dipeptides. Together with dimethylallyltryptophan synthase of ergot alkaloid biosynthesis, FtmPT1 belongs to a new group of prenyltransferases with aromatic substrates. << Less

  Microbiology 151:2199-2207(2005) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Breaking the regioselectivity of indole prenyltransferases: identification of regular C3-prenylated hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]indoles as side products of the regular C2-prenyltransferase FtmPT1.

  Wollinsky B., Ludwig L., Xie X., Li S.M.

  The prenyltransferase FtmPT1 from Aspergillus fumigatus is involved in the biosynthesis of fumitremorgin-type alkaloids and catalysed the regular C2-prenylation of brevianamide F (cyclo-L-Trp-L-Pro). It has been shown that FtmPT1 also accepted a number of other tryptophan-containing cyclic dipepti ... >> More

  The prenyltransferase FtmPT1 from Aspergillus fumigatus is involved in the biosynthesis of fumitremorgin-type alkaloids and catalysed the regular C2-prenylation of brevianamide F (cyclo-L-Trp-L-Pro). It has been shown that FtmPT1 also accepted a number of other tryptophan-containing cyclic dipeptides and prenylated them, in the presence of dimethylallyl diphosphate, at C-2 of the indole nucleus. Detailed analysis of the incubation mixtures of FtmPT1 with these cyclic dipeptides revealed the presence of additional product peaks in the HPLC chromatograms. Seven regularly C3-prenylated hexahydropyrrolo[2,3-b]indoles were isolated and identified by HR-ESI-MS and NMR analyses including HMBC, HMQC and NOESY experiments. Further experiments proved that the C2- and C3-prenylated products are both independent enzyme products. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the enzymatic formation of regularly C3-prenylated indolines. A reaction mechanism for both C2- and C3-prenylated derivatives was proposed. << Less

  Org. Biomol. Chem. 10:9262-9270(2012) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]