It is generally believed that exchange of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) among closely related bacteria is an important driver of BGC evolution and diversification. Applying this idea may help researchers efficiently connect many BGCs to their products and characterize the products' roles in various environments. However, existing genetic tools support only a small fraction of these efforts. Here, we present the development of chassis-independent recombinase-assisted genome engineering (CRAGE), which enables single-step integration of large, complex BGC constructs directly into the chromosomes of diverse bacteria with high accuracy and efficiency. To demonstrate the efficacy of CRAGE, we expressed three known and six previously identified but experimentally elusive non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) and NRPS-polyketide synthase (PKS) hybrid BGCs from Photorhabdus luminescens in 25 diverse γ-Proteobacteria species. Successful activation of six BGCs identified 22 products for which diversity and yield were greater when the BGCs were expressed in strains closely related to the native strain than when they were expressed in either native or more distantly related strains. Activation of these BGCs demonstrates the feasibility of exploiting their underlying catalytic activity and plasticity, and provides evidence that systematic approaches based on CRAGE will be useful for discovering and identifying previously uncharacterized metabolites.

Dendrimeric polyphenylsulfides, -selenides, and -tellurides are prepared in high yield using propyloxy spacers to connect the phenylchalcogeno groups to the dendrimeric core. The selenides and tellurides catalyze the oxidation of bromide with hydrogen peroxide to give positive bromine species that can be captured by cyclohexene in two-phase systems. The corresponding sulfides show no catalytic activity. The increase in the rate of catalysis followed statistical effects for 1, 6, and 12 phenyltelluro groups. However, the increase in the rate of catalysis exceeds statistical contributions for the first few generations with 1, 3, 6, and 12 phenylseleno groups and suggested cooperativity among phenylseleno groups. The increase in catalytic rate was lost upon replacing all but one phenylseleno group with phenoxy groups. On the basis of H2O2 consumed, the dendrimer with 12 phenylseleno groups has a turnover number of >60 000 mol of H2O2 consumed per mole of catalyst.

[structure: see text] Herein we report the formal total synthesis of (+)-discodermolide in 21 steps (longest linear sequence) from commercially available Roche ester. This synthesis features the assembly of C(9-18) and C(19-24) fragments via a metal-chelated aldol coupling reaction.

Dendrimeric polyphenylselenides are prepared in high yield using propyloxy spacers to connect the phenyseleno groups to the dendrimeric core. The selenides catalyze the oxidation of bromide with hydrogen peroxide to give positive bromine species that can be captured by cyclohexene in two-phase systems. The increase in the rate of catalysis exceeds statistical contributions for the first few generations with 3, 6, and 12 phenylseleno groups.

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Bacterial pathogens have specific virulence factors (e.g., toxins) that contribute significantly to the virulence and infectivity of microorganisms within the human hosts. Virulence factors are molecules expressed by pathogens that enable colonization, immunoevasion, and immunosuppression, obtaining nutrients from the host or gaining entry into host cells. They can cause pathogenesis by inhibiting or stimulating certain host functions. For example, in systemic Staphylococcus aureus infections, virulence factors such as toxic shock syndrome toxin 1 (TSST-1), staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA), and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) cause sepsis or toxic shock by uncontrolled stimulation of T lymphocytes and by triggering a cytokine storm. In vitro, these superantigens stimulate the proliferation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and the release of many cytokines. NVC-422 (N,N-dichloro-2,2-dimethyltaurine) is a broad-spectrum, fast-acting topical anti-infective agent against microbial pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant microbes. Using mass spectrometry, we demonstrate here that NVC-422 oxidizes methionine residues of TSST-1, SEA, SEB, and exfoliative toxin A (ETA). Exposure of virulence factors to 0.1% NVC-422 for 1 h prevented TSST-1-, SEA-, SEB-, and ETA-induced cell proliferation and cytokine release. Moreover, NVC-422 also delayed and reduced the protein A-and clumping factor-associated agglutination of S. aureus cultures. These results show that, in addition to its well-described direct microbicidal activity, NVC-422 can inactivate S. aureus virulence factors through rapid oxidation of methionines.

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