Discovery of the 5-Chlorokynurenine Pathway in Lodopyridone Biosynthesis

CNQ490 marine actinobacterium. We characterized the enzymes responsible for the conversion of L-tryptophan to L-5-chlorokynurenine, including Lodo315, a tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) enzyme with extensive substrate flexibility. This work expands our current knowledge of TDO enzymes that act on halogenated tryptophan substrates in bacteria and serves as a future basis for bioproduction of chlorinated kynurenine scaffolds.