Discovery, biosynthesis and antifungal mechanism of the polyene-polyol meijiemycin

• Main Authors: Low, Zhen Jie, Xiong, Juan, Xie, Ying, Ma, Guang-Lei, Saw, Howard, Tran, Hoa Thi, Wong, Soo Lin, Pang, Li Mei, Fong, July, Lu, Peng, Hu, Jin-Feng, Liang, Yang, Miao, Yansong, Liang, Zhao-Xun
• Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Science::Biological sciences::Biochemistry; Science::Biological sciences::Microbiology; Natural Product; Anti-fungal Agent
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138959
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Produced by a newly isolated Streptomycetes strain, meijiemycin is a gigantic linear polyene-polyol that exhibits structural features not seen in other members of the polyene-polyol family. We propose a biosynthetic mechanism and demonstrate that meijiemycin inhibits hyphal growth by inducing the aggregation of ergosterol and restructuring of the fungal plasma membrane.