Comparative investigation into formycin A and pyrazofurin A biosynthesis reveals branch pathways for the construction of C-nucleoside scaffolds

Formycin A (FOR-A) and pyrazofurin A (PRF-A) are purine-related C-nucleoside antibiotics, in which ribose and a pyrazole-derived base are linked by a C-glycosidic bond, however, the logic underlying the biosynthesis of these molecules has remained largely unexplored. Here, we report the discovery of the pathways for FOR-A and PRF-A biosynthesis from diverse actinobacteria, and demonstrate that their biosynthesis is initiated by a lysine N6-monooxygenase. Moreover, we show that the forT and prfE (individually related to FOR-A and PRF-A biosynthesis) mutants are correspondingly capable of accumulating the unexpected pyrazole-related intermediates, compound 11 and 9a. We also decipher the enzymatic basis of ForT/PrfE for the C-glycosidic bond formation in FOR-A/PRF-A biosynthesis. To our knowledge, ForT/PrfE represents the first example of {beta}-RFA-P ({beta}-ribofuranosyl-aminobenzene 5-phosphate) synthase-like enzymes governing C-nucleoside scaffold construction in natural product biosynthesis. These data establish a foundation for combinatorial biosynthesis of related purine nucleoside antibiotics, and also open the way for target-directed genome mining of PRF-A/FOR-A related antibiotics.\n\nIMPORTANCEFormycin A (FOR-A) and pyrazofurin A (PRF-A) are well known for their unusual chemical structures and remarkable biological activities. Actually, deciphering FOR-A/PRF-A biosynthesis will not only expand biochemical repertoire for novel enzymatic reactions, but also permit the target-oriented genome mining of FOR-A/PRF-A related C-nucleoside antibiotics.