A polyketoacyl-CoA thiolase-dependent pathway for the synthesis of polyketide backbones

Polyketides found in nature originate from backbones synthesized through iterative decarboxylative Claisen condensations catalysed by polyketide synthases (PKSs). However, PKSs suffer from complicated architecture, energy inefficiencies, complex regulation, and competition with essential metabolic pathways for extender unit malonyl-CoA, all combining to limit the flux of polyketide biosynthesis. Here we show that certain thiolases, which we term polyketoacyl-CoA thiolases (PKTs), catalyse polyketide backbone formation via iterative non-decarboxylative Claisen condensations, hence offering a synthetic and efficient alternative to PKSs. We show that PKTs can synthesize polyketide backbones for representative lactone, alkylresorcinolic acid, alkylresorcinol, hydroxybenzoic acid and alkylphenol polyketide families, and elucidate the basic catalytic mechanism and structural features enabling this previously unknown activity. PKT-catalysed reactions offer a route to polyketide formation that leverages the simple architecture of thiolases to achieve higher ATP efficiencies and reduced competition with essential metabolic pathways, all of which circumvent intrinsic inefficiencies of PKSs for polyketide product synthesis. Polyketide biosynthesis has remained exclusively based on polyketide synthases. Now, it is shown that certain thiolases can be employed instead, providing a method that offers distinct advantages for the synthesis of valuable products.