Publications

• A highly specific D-hydroxyisovalerate dehydrogenase from the enniatin producer Fusarium sambucinum.

  Lee C., Gorisch H., Kleinkauf H., Zocher R.

  A highly specific D-hydroxyisovalerate (D-HIV) dehydrogenase, which is a key enzyme in depsipeptide synthesis, was purified to near homogeneity from the enniatin-producing fungus Fusarium sambucinum. The enzyme catalyzes the reversible reaction of 2-ketoisovalerate (2-KIV) to D-HIV. It is strictly ... >> More

  A highly specific D-hydroxyisovalerate (D-HIV) dehydrogenase, which is a key enzyme in depsipeptide synthesis, was purified to near homogeneity from the enniatin-producing fungus Fusarium sambucinum. The enzyme catalyzes the reversible reaction of 2-ketoisovalerate (2-KIV) to D-HIV. It is strictly dependent on NADPH and exhibits a high substrate specificity with respect to 2-KIV. NADH was not accepted by the enzyme. Km values for 2-KIV and NADPH were found to be 200 and 333 microM, respectively. D-HIV dehydrogenase consists of a single polypeptide chain with a molecular mass of about 53 kDa. Optimum temperature for the reduction of 2-KIV was 35 degrees C and for the oxidation reaction was 45 degrees C. The optimum pH was found to be 7 for the reduction and 8-9 for the oxidation reaction. << Less

  J Biol Chem 267:11741-11744(1992) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Calmodulin-mediated suppression of 2-ketoisovalerate reductase in Beauveria bassiana beauvericin biosynthetic pathway.

  Kim J., Yoon D.H., Oh J., Hyun M.W., Han J.G., Sung G.H.

  Ketoisovalerate reductase (KIVR, E.C. 1.2.7.7) mediates the specific reduction of 2-ketoisovalerate (2-Kiv) to d-hydroxyisovalerate (d-Hiv), a precursor for beauvericin biosynthesis. Beauvericin, a famous mycotoxin produced by many fungi, is a cyclooligomer depsipeptide, which has insecticidal, an ... >> More

  Ketoisovalerate reductase (KIVR, E.C. 1.2.7.7) mediates the specific reduction of 2-ketoisovalerate (2-Kiv) to d-hydroxyisovalerate (d-Hiv), a precursor for beauvericin biosynthesis. Beauvericin, a famous mycotoxin produced by many fungi, is a cyclooligomer depsipeptide, which has insecticidal, antimicrobial, antiviral, and cytotoxic activities. In this report, we demonstrated that Beauveria bassiana 2-ketoisovalerate reductase (BbKIVR) acts as a typical KIVR enzyme in the entomopathogenic fungus B. bassiana. In addition, we found that BbKIVR interacts with calmodulin (CaM) in vitro and in vivo. The functional role of CaM-binding to BbKIVR was to negatively regulate the BbKIVR activity in B. bassiana. Environmental stimuli such as light and salt stress suppressed BbKIVR activity in B. bassiana. Interestingly, this negative effect of BbKIVR activity by light and salt stress was recovered by CaM inhibitors, suggesting that the inhibitory mechanism is mediated through stimulation of CaM activity. Therefore, this work suggests that BbKIVR plays an important role in the beauvericin biosynthetic pathway mediated by environmental stimuli such as light and salt stress via the CaM signaling pathway. << Less

  Environ. Microbiol. 18:4136-4143(2016) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]

• Combinatorial mutasynthesis of scrambled beauvericins, cyclooligomer depsipeptide cell migration inhibitors from Beauveria bassiana.

  Xu Y., Wijeratne E.M., Espinosa-Artiles P., Gunatilaka A.A., Molnar I.

  Fungal cyclooligomer depsipeptides such as beauvericin, bassianolide, and enniatins display antibiotic, antifungal, insecticidal, broad-spectrum cancer cell antiproliferative, and cell migration inhibitory activities. We have identified a gene encoding a novel enzyme, ketoisovalerate reductase (KI ... >> More

  Fungal cyclooligomer depsipeptides such as beauvericin, bassianolide, and enniatins display antibiotic, antifungal, insecticidal, broad-spectrum cancer cell antiproliferative, and cell migration inhibitory activities. We have identified a gene encoding a novel enzyme, ketoisovalerate reductase (KIVR), which is the sole provider of D-hydroxyisovalerate (D-Hiv), a common precursor for cyclooligomer depsipeptide biosynthesis in Beauveria bassiana. KIVR and related hypothetical oxidoreductases encoded in fungal genomes are similar to ketopantoate reductases but not to D-hydroxycarboxylate dehydrogenases. We demonstrate that a KIVR knockout B. bassiana strain can be used for the efficient mutasynthesis of unnatural beauvericin congeners. Simultaneous feeding of precursor analogues enabled the combinatorial mutasynthesis of scrambled beauvericins, some assembled entirely from unnatural precursors. The effects of the introduced structural changes on the antiproliferative and cell migration inhibitory activities of these analogues were evaluated. << Less

  ChemBioChem 10:345-354(2009) [PubMed] [EuropePMC]