Shinohara_2011_J.Am.Chem.Soc_133_18134

Macrolactam antibiotics are an important class of macrocyclic polyketides that contain a unique nitrogen-containing starter unit. In the present study, a set of starter biosynthetic enzymes in the macrolactam antibiotic vicenistatin was characterized. We found that the protection-deprotection strategy of the aminoacyl-ACP intermediate was critical in this system. On the basis of bioinformatics, the described pathway is also proposed as a common method for carrying amino acids in the biosynthesis of other macrolactam antibiotics.