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Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is produced in significant quantities by aerobic marine organisms. These bacteria apparently catalyse the formation of methane through the cleavage of the highly unreactive carbon-phosphorus bond in methyl phosphonate (MPn), but the biological or terrestrial source of this compound is unclear. However, the ocean-dwelling bacterium Nitrosopumilus maritimus catalyses the biosynthesis of MPn from 2-hydroxyethyl phosphonate and the bacterial C-P lyase complex is known to convert MPn to methane. In addition to MPn, the bacterial C-P lyase complex catalyses C-P bond cleavage of many alkyl phosphonates when the environmental concentration of phosphate is low. PhnJ from the C-P lyase complex catalyses an unprecedented C-P bond cleavage reaction of ribose-1-phosphonate-5-phosphate to methane and ribose-1,2-cyclic-phosphate-5-phosphate. This reaction requires a redox-active [4Fe-4S]-cluster and S-adenosyl-L-methionine, which is reductively cleaved to L-methionine and 5'-deoxyadenosine. Here we show that PhnJ is a novel radical S-adenosyl-L-methionine enzyme that catalyses C-P bond cleavage through the initial formation of a 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical and two protein-based radicals localized at Gly 32 and Cys 272. During this transformation, the pro-R hydrogen from Gly 32 is transferred to the 5'-deoxyadenosyl radical to form 5'-deoxyadenosine and the pro-S hydrogen is transferred to the radical intermediate that ultimately generates methane. A comprehensive reaction mechanism is proposed for cleavage of the C-P bond by the C-P lyase complex that uses a covalent thiophosphate intermediate for methane and phosphate formation.

To fully exploit the inherent and enduring potential of natural products for fundamental cell biology and drug lead discovery, synthetic methods for functionalizing unique sites are highly desirable. Here we describe a strategy for the derivatization of natural products at ‘unfunctionalized’ positions via Rh(II)-catalyzed amination enabling simultaneous structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies and arming (alkynylation) of natural products. Employing Du Bois C–H amination, allylic and benzylic C–H bonds underwent amination and olefins underwent aziridination. With tertiary amine-containing natural products, amidines were produced via C–H amination/oxidation and unusual N-aminations provided hydrazine sulfamate inner salts. The alkynylated derivatives are readied for subsequent conjugation to access cellular probes for mechanism of action studies. Both chemo- and site-selectivity was studied by application to a diverse set of natural products including the marine-derived anticancer diterpene, eupalmerin acetate (EPA). Quantitative proteome profiling with an alkynyl EPA derivative obtained by site-selective, allylic C–H amination led to identification of several protein targets in HL-60 cells, including several known to be associated with cancer proliferation, suggestive of a polypharmacological mode of action for EPA.

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LigI from Sphingomonas paucimobilis catalyzes the reversible hydrolysis of 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate (PDC) to 4-oxalomesaconate and 4-carboxy-2-hydroxymuconate in the degradation of lignin. This protein is a member of the amidohydrolase superfamily of enzymes. The protein was expressed in Escherichia coli and then purified to homogeneity. The purified recombinant enzyme does not contain bound metal ions, and the addition of metal chelators or divalent metal ions to the assay mixtures does not affect the rate of product formation. This is the first enzyme from the amidohydrolase superfamily that does not require a divalent metal ion for catalytic activity. The kinetic constants for the hydrolysis of PDC are 340 s–1 and 9.8 × 106 M–1 s–1 (k cat and k cat/K m, respectively). The pH dependence on the kinetic constants suggests that a single active site residue must be deprotonated for the hydrolysis of PDC. The site of nucleophilic attack was determined by conducting the hydrolysis of PDC in 18O-labeled water and subsequent 13C nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. The crystal structures of wild-type LigI and the D248A mutant in the presence of the reaction product were determined to a resolution of 1.9 Å. The C-8 and C-11 carboxylate groups of PDC are coordinated within the active site via ion pair interactions with Arg-130 and Arg-124, respectively. The hydrolytic water molecule is activated by the transfer of a proton to Asp-248. The carbonyl group of the lactone substrate is activated by electrostatic interactions with His-180, His-31, and His-33.

Byrsonima rrassifolia (L.), a Neotropical malpighiaceous tree or treelet, has flowers that produce abundant lipids instead of nectar. Several species of Centris bees collect this oil. The floral oil shows variation between trees and can be separated into two types. One type is most common (1 1 of 14 samples) and consists of mono-and di-glycerides, some free fatty acids, a small amount of tri-glycerides and a trace of carbohydrate. The composition of the glycerides is predominantly (53-63%) esters of unsaturated 18C-22C fatty acids with the rest made up of 14C-18C saturated fatty acids. The second type of floral oil is similar to type one except that the samples contain large amounts of an unknown lipid more polar than the standards.Oil collected from the scopae of two representative Centris species, C. adanae and C. fiuofasciata, was the same as the type one oil collected from B. rrassifolia floral elaiophores. The liquid provisions from the cells of several groundnesting Centri? species was also found to be identical to B. crassifolia type one floral elaiophore oil with the exception of several minor ninhydrin positive compounds which may have been derived from the pollen which makes up part of the larval food provisions.

A combined simulation and experimental study was performed to investigate how methanol affects the structure of a model peptide BBA5. BBA5 forms a stable β-hairpin-α-helix structure in aqueous solutions. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed in water and methanol/water solutions using all-atom explicit models. NMR experiments were used to test the calculated results. The combined theoretical and experimental studies suggest that methanol strengthens the interactions between the polar backbone of the peptide and thus enhances the secondary structure formation; at the same time methanol weakens the hydrophobic interactions and results in an expansion of the hydrophobic core and an increase in gyration.

Each residue of the insect kinin carboxy-terminal pentapeptide has a distinct role in conformational preference, specific receptor interactions or signal transduction. The beta-turn preference of residues Phe1-X2-X3-Trp4 implicates this as the bioactive conformation. The amidated carboxyl terminus, required for activity in many neuropeptide families, may be generally important for signal transduction and its inclusion may therefore be essential for agonist design.