Structural Basis for the Formation of Acylalkylpyrones from Two β-Ketoacyl Units by the Fungal Type III Polyketide Synthase CsyB*

Abstract

The acylalkylpyrone synthase CsyB from Aspergillus oryzae catalyzes the one-pot formation of the 3-acyl-4-hydroxy-6-alkyl-α-pyrone scaffold from acetoacetyl-CoA, fatty acyl-CoA, and malonyl-CoA. This is the first type III polyketide synthase that performs not only the polyketide chain elongation but also the condensation of two β-ketoacyl units. The crystal structures of wild-type CsyB and its I375F and I375W mutants were solved at 1.7-, 2.3-, and 2.0-Å resolutions, respectively. The crystal structures revealed a unique active site architecture featuring a hitherto unidentified novel pocket for accommodation of the acetoacetyl-CoA starter in addition to the conventional elongation/cyclization pocket with the Cys-His-Asn catalytic triad and the long hydrophobic tunnel for binding the fatty acyl chain. The structures also indicated the presence of a putative nucleophilic water molecule activated by the hydrogen bond networks with His-377 and Cys-155 at the active site center. Furthermore, an in vitro enzyme reaction confirmed that the ¹⁸O atom of the H₂¹⁸O molecule is enzymatically incorporated into the final product. These observations suggested that the enzyme reaction is initiated by the loading of acetoacetyl-CoA onto Cys-155, and subsequent thioester bond cleavage by the nucleophilic water generates the β-keto acid intermediate, which is placed within the novel pocket. The second β-ketoacyl unit is then produced by polyketide chain elongation of fatty acyl-CoA with one molecule of malonyl-CoA, and the condensation with the β-keto acid generates the final products. Indeed, steric modulation of the novel pocket by the structure-based I375F and I375W mutations resulted in altered specificities for the chain lengths of the substrates.