Six Sets of Aromatic Polyketides Differing in Size and Shape Derive from a Single Biosynthetic Gene Cluster

One new aromatic polyketide, prealnumycin B (1), and four known aromatic polyketides, K1115A (2), 1,6-dihydroxy-8-propylanthraquinone (DHPA, 3), phaeochromycin B (4), and (R)-7-acetyl-3,6-dihydroxy-8-propyl-3,4dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-one (5), were isolated from the marine-derived Streptomyces sundarbansensis SCSIO NS01; these compounds represent four sets of aromatic polyketides differing in size and shape. A type II polyketide synthase (PKS) cluster, als, was identified by complete genome sequencing and was shown, by in vivo gene inactivation experiments in the wild-type (WT) NS01 strain and heterologous expression experiments, to encode the biosynthesis of compounds 1–5. Moreover, heterologous expression of the als cluster afforded three additional aromatic polyketides representing two different carbon skeletons, the new phaeochromycin L (6) and two known aromatic polyketides, phaeochromycins D (7) and E (8). These findings expand our knowledge of type II PKS machineries and their versatility in generating structurally diverse aromatic polyketides and highlight the power of type II PKSs in accessing new polyketides via ectopic expression in heterologous hosts.