Discovery, Biosynthetic Origin, and Heterologous Production of Massinidine, an Antiplasmodial Alkaloid

Bacteria of the genus Massilia represent an underexplored source of bioactive natural products. Here, we report the discovery of massinidine ( 1 ), a guanidine alkaloid with antiplasmodial activity, from these microbes. The unusual scaffold of massinidine is shown to originate from l -phenylalanine, acetate, and l -arginine. Massinidine biosynthesis genes were identified in the native producer and validated through heterologous expression in Myxococcus xanthus . Bioinformatic analyses indicate that the potential for massinidine biosynthesis is distributed in various proteobacteria.