A Novel Erythromycin, 6-Desmethyl Erythromycin D, Made by Substituting an Acyltransferase Domain of the Erythromycin Polyketide Synthase

The acyltransferase (AT) domain in module 4 of the erythromycin polyketide synthase (PKS) was substituted with an AT domain from the rapamycin PKS module 2 in order to alter the substrate specificity from methylmalonyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA. The resulting strain produced 6-desmethyl erythromycin D as the predominant product. This AT domain swap completes the library of malonyl-CoA AT swaps on the erythromycin PKS and reinforces PKS engineering as a robust and generic tool.