The coupled reaction catalyzed by EchB and EchC lead to the formation of the common 2',3',5'-trihydroxy-benzene core in echosides biosynthesis

Abstract p-Terphenyls represent a unique family of aromatic natural products generated by nonribosomal peptide synthetase-like (NRPS-like) enzyme. After formation of p-terphenyl skeleton, tailoring modifications will give rise to structural diversity and various biological activities. Here we demonstrated a two-enzyme (EchB, a short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR), and EchC, a nuclear transport factor 2 (NTF2)-like dehydratase) participated transformation from dihydroxybenzoquinone core to 2′,3′,5′-trihydroxy-benzene in the biosynthesis of echosides. Beginning with polyporic acid as substrate, successive steps of reduction-dehydration-reduction cascade catalyzed by EchB-EchC-EchB were concluded after in vivo gene disruption and in vitro bioassay experiments. These findings demonstrated a conserved synthesis pathway of 2′,3′,5′-trihydroxy-p-terphenyls in bacteria, such as Actinomycetes and Burkholderia. The parallel pathway in fungi has yet to be explored.