Isolation and Characterization of Kasugamycin Biosynthetic Genes from Streptomyces kasugaensis KACC 20262

The biosynthetic gene cluster for the aminoglycoside antibiotic kasugamycin was isolated and characterized from the kasugamycin producing strain, Streptomyces kasugaensis KACC 20262. By screening a fosmid library using kasA, the gene encoding aminotransferase, we isolated a 22 kb DNA fragment. The fragment contained seventeen complete open reading frames (ORFs); one of these ORFs, kasD, was identified as the gene for dNDP-glucose 4,6-dehydratase, which catalyzes the conversion of dNDP-glucose to 4-keto-6-deoxy-dNDP-glucose. The enzyme showed a broad spectrum of substrate specificity. In addition, ksR was overexpressed in E. coli BL21 and proved to be a self-resistance gene against kasugamycin. These findings suggest that the isolated gene cluster is highly likely responsible for the biosynthesis of kasugamycin.