Complexity and Diversity Generation in the Biosynthesis of Fumiquinazoline-Related Peptidyl Alkaloids

Fumiquinazolines are multicyclic peptidyl alkaloids where FAD-dependent oxidases are main tailing redox enzymes in their biosynthesis. Here, we characterized the use of an α-KG/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenase (α-KGD) as a new strategy in Nature to increase structural complexity in fumiquinazolines biosynthesis by elucidating the concise three enzymes biosynthetic pathway of heptacyclical alanditrypinone (1). Further genome mining led to the discovery of additional gene cluster with α-KGD and trimodular NRPS as partner, which generates diverse fumiquinazolines.