Deciphering the Biosynthesis and Physiological Function of 5-Methylated Pyrazinones Produced by Myxobacteria

Myxobacteria are a prolific source of secondary metabolites with sheer chemical complexity, intriguing biosynthetic enzymology, and diverse biological activities. In this study, we report the discovery, biosynthesis, biomimetic total synthesis, physiological function, structure–activity relationship, and self-resistance mechanism of the 5-methylated pyrazinone coralinone from a myxobacterium Corallococcus exiguus SDU70. A single NRPS/PKS gene corA was genetically and biochemically demonstrated to orchestrate coralinone, wherein the integral PKS part is responsible for installing the 5-methyl group. Intriguingly, coralinone exacerbated cellular aggregation of myxobacteria grown in liquid cultures by enhancing the secretion of extracellular matrix, and the 5-methylation is indispensable for the alleged activity. We provided an evolutionary landscape of the corA-associated biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) distributed in the myxobacterial realm, revealing the divergent evolution for the diversity-oriented biosynthesis of 5-alkyated pyrazinones. This phylogenetic contextualization provoked us to identify corB located in the proximity of corA as a self-resistance gene. CorB was experimentally verified to be a protease that hydrolyzes extracellular proteins to antagonize the agglutination-inducing effect of coralinone. Overall, we anticipate these findings will provide new insights into the chemical ecology of myxobacteria and lay foundations for the maximal excavation of these largely underexplored resources.

corA autonomously codes for 5-methylated pyrazinone that promotes secretion of extracellular matrix to induce agglutination of myxobacteria, and corB encoding a protease is the self-resistance gene.