chiniofon and methyl-isocyanate

The 6,6-quinolone scaffolds on which viridicatin-type fungal alkaloids are built are frequently found in metabolites that display useful biological activities. Here we report in vitro and computational analyses leading to the discovery of a hemocyanin-like protein AsqI from the Aspergillus nidulans aspoquinolone biosynthetic pathway that forms viridicatins via a conversion of the cyclopenin-type 6,7-bicyclic system into the viridicatin-type 6,6-bicyclic core through elimination of carbon dioxide and methylamine through methyl isocyanate.

Topics: Alkaloids; Aspergillus nidulans; Binding Sites; Biosynthetic Pathways; Carbon Dioxide; Cloning, Molecular; Crystallography, X-Ray; Cyclization; Escherichia coli; Fungal Proteins; Gene Expression; Genetic Vectors; Hemocyanins; Hydroxyquinolines; Isocyanates; Kinetics; Methylamines; Models, Molecular; Protein Binding; Protein Conformation, alpha-Helical; Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; Quinolones; Recombinant Proteins; Substrate Specificity; Zinc