Discovery and biosynthesis of imidazolium antibiotics from the human gut bacterium Enterococcus faecalis
The bacterial genus Enterococcus has been reported as commensal bacterium inhabiting gastrointestinal tracts of humans. Members of Enterococcus can be used as a probiotic or act as opportunistic pathogen causing urinary tract infection. However, bioactive metabolites produced by these bacteria are still largely unknown. Nine new phenylethylamine-containing imidazolium, enterozolium A–I (1–9) were isolated from E. faecalis KCTC 5191 along with five known metabolites (10–14). Chemical structures of the new compounds (1–9) were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis, including NMR (1H and 13C NMR, 1H-1H COSY, HSQC, HMBC) and HR-TOF-MS data. Enterozolium F exhibited potent antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Bacillus subtilis, with MIC values ranging from 1.3–2.6 µg/mL. The biosynthetic pathway toward enterozolium A–I (1–9) was investigated using biomimetic total synthesis, isotope labeling experiments and a biosynthetic genes knockout method.
2024 Spring Convention