Abstract

In this study, we demonstrate the use of a PCR-based method for the detection of the specific genes involved in natural-product biosynthesis. This method was applied, using specifically designed PCR primers, to the amplification of a gene segment encoding for sedo-heptulose 7-phosphate cyclase, which appears to be involved in the biosynthetic pathways of C_7N aminoacyclitol or its keto analogue-containing metabolites, in a variety of actinomycetes species. The sequences of DNA fragments (about 540 bp) obtained from three out of 39 actinomycete strains exhibited a high degree of homology with the sedo-heptulose 7-phosphate cyclase gene, which has been implicated in acarbose biosynthesis. The selective cultivation conditions of this experiment induced the expression of these loci, indicating that the range of C_7N aminoacyclitol or its keto analogue-group natural products might be far greater than was previously imagined. Considering that a total of approximately 20 C_7N aminoacyclitol metabolites, or its keto analogue-containing metabolites, have been described to date, it appears likely that some of the unknown loci described herein might constitute new classes of C_7N aminoacyclitol, or of its keto analogue-containing metabolites. As these metabolites, some of which contain valienamine, are among the most potent antidiabetic agents thus far discovered, the molecular detection of specific metabolite-producing actinomycetes may prove a crucial step in current attempts to expand the scope and diversity of natural-product discovery.

• Keywords: sedo-heptulose 7-phosphate cyclase; C_7N aminoacyclitol; [alpha]-glucosidase inhibitor; molecular method