Prochlorosins make up a class of secondary metabolites
produced
by strains of Prochlorococcus, single-cell, planktonic
marine cyanobacteria. These polycyclic peptides contain lanthionine
and methyllanthionine residues that result in thioether cross-links.
In Prochlorococcus MIT9313, a single enzyme, ProcM,
catalyzes the posttranslational modification of 29 linear peptide
substrates to generate a library of highly diverse cyclic peptides.
To investigate the catalytic promiscuity of ProcM, we chose four prochlorosins
previously demonstrated to be produced by the organism for detailed
structural characterization. Nuclear magnetic resonance studies allowed
unambiguous assignment of the ring topologies, demonstrating a high
degree of topological diversity. The stereochemistry of the lanthionine
and methyllanthionine residues was determined by gas chromatography
and mass spectrometry for seven prochlorosins. All methyllanthionines
had the (2S,3S,6R) configuration, and the lanthionines had the (2S,6R) configuration, irrespective of the direction
of cyclization, ring size, or ring topology. These findings indicate
that most, if not all, of the rings in prochlorosins are formed enzymatically
by ProcM lanthionine synthetase and not by a nonenzymatic process
as previously suggested.