The dnrM gene in Streptomyces peucetius contains a naturally occurring frameshift mutation that is suppressed by another locus outside of the daunorubicin-production gene cluster

A 2.7 kb BamHI fragment of the daunorubicin biosynthetic cluster in Streptomyces peucetius ATCC 29050 was shown to contain two ORFs, dnrL and dnrM, whose deduced products exhibit a high sequence similarity to a number of glucose-1-phosphate thymidylyl transferases and TDP-D-glucose dehydratases, respectively, Although these genes were believed to be necessary for the synthesis of the deoxyaminosugar, daunosamine, a constituent of daunorubicin, the dnrM gene contains a frameshift in the DNA sequence that causes the premature termination of translation. A gene encoding another TDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, previously isolated from S. peucetius, was identified by PCR amplification of genomic DNA. The presence of this gene explains why a dnrM::aphll mutation did not block daunorubicin production.