Structure-Based Engineering of a Plant Type III Polyketide Synthase: Formation of an Unnatural Nonaketide Naphthopyrone

Pentaketide chromone synthase (PCS) from Aloe arborescens is a novel plant-specific type III polyketide synthase (PKS) that produces 5,7-dihydroxy-2-methylchromone from five molecules of malonyl-CoA. On the basis of the crystal structures of wild-type and M207G mutant PCS, the F80A/Y82A/M207G triple mutant was constructed and shown to produce an unnatural novel nonaketide naphthopyrone by sequential condensations of nine molecules of malonyl-CoA. This is the first demonstration of the formation of a nonaketide by the structurally simple type III PKS. A homology model predicted that the active-site cavity volume of the triple mutant is increased to 4 times that of the wild-type PCS.