A unique three-enzyme cascade mediates efficient regioselective and stereospecific epoxytetrahydrofuran ring formation in deoxyverrucosidin biosynthesis

Abstract

The fungal octaketide deoxyverrucosidin shares the same α-pyrone core with several nonaketides, including aurovertins, citreoviridin, and asteltoxin. Deoxyverrucosidin features a unique epoxytetrahydrofuran ring. In this study, we demonstrate that this ring system is formed via a flavin-containing monooxygenase-mediated epoxidation on the polyene chain, followed by rearrangement with an epoxide expandase and a second epoxidation on the resulting 2,5-dihydrofuran ring with a cytochrome P450 enzyme. This catalytic cascade differs clearly from the formation of dioxybicyclooctane or tetrahydrofuran motifs in other α-pyrone-containing metabolites, involving one flavin-containing monooxygenase and one hydrolase for up to two rounds of epoxide ring formation and expansion.

Graphical abstract: A unique three-enzyme cascade mediates efficient regioselective and stereospecific epoxytetrahydrofuran ring formation in deoxyverrucosidin biosynthesis

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
12 May 2025
Accepted
18 Jul 2025
First published
21 Jul 2025
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2025, Advance Article

A unique three-enzyme cascade mediates efficient regioselective and stereospecific epoxytetrahydrofuran ring formation in deoxyverrucosidin biosynthesis

H. Wei, X. Chen, Y. Dai, L. Yang and S. Li, Chem. Sci., 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5SC03423J

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