Significance
We have solved a long-standing mystery of the biosynthetic origin of 1-undecene, a ubiquitous hydrocarbon semivolatile metabolite of
Pseudomonas
. Our study revealed an unprecedented family of nonheme oxidases that specifically convert medium-chain fatty acids into the corresponding terminal olefins using an oxygen-activating, nonheme iron-dependent mechanism. Our findings unveil previously unidentified chemistry in the nonheme Fe(II) enzyme family, aid the functional study of this ubiquitous metabolite in
Pseudomonas
, expand the scarce enzyme inventory for the transformation of fatty acid precursors to hydrocarbons, and serve as the basis for engineering efforts to establish bioprocesses to produce medium-chain terminal olefins, useful as fuels and chemical building blocks, from renewable resources.
《意义》
我们解决了长期存在的关于1-十一烯的生物合成起源的谜团,这是一种广泛存在的半挥发性代谢产物,来自于假单胞菌。我们的研究揭示了一类前所未见的非血红素氧化酶家族,它们通过氧活化、非血红素铁依赖机制,特异地将中链脂肪酸转化为相应的末端烯烃。我们的发现揭示了非血红素Fe(II)酶家族中以前未知的化学反应,有助于研究假单胞菌中这种普遍代谢产物的功能,扩大了转化脂肪酸前体为烃类的酶库存,为建立利用可再生资源生产中链末端烯烃的生物过程的工程努力奠定了基础,这些烃类可用作燃料和化学构建块。