Intermodular communication in modular polyketide synthases: Structural and mutational analysis of linker mediated protein-protein recognition

Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) present an attractive scaffold for the engineered biosynthesis of novel polyketide products via recombination of naturally occurring enzyme modules with desired catalytic properties. Recent studies have highlighted the pivotal role of short intermodular "linker pairs" in the selective channeling of biosynthetic intermediates between adjacent PKS modules. Using a combination of computer modeling, NMR spectroscopy, cross-linking, and site-directed mutagenesis, we have investigated the mechanism by which a linker pair from the 6-deoxyerythronolide B synthase promotes chain transfer. Our studies support a "coiled-coil" model in which the individual peptides comprising this linker pair adopt helical conformations that associate through a combination of hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions in an antiparallel fashion. Given the important contribution of such linker pair interactions to the kinetics of chain transfer between PKS modules, the ability to rationally modulate linker pair affinity by site-directed mutagenesis could be useful in the construction of optimized hybrid PKSs.