Abstract
Lipopeptide biosurfactants (LPBSs) consist of a hydrophobic fatty acid portion linked to a hydrophilic peptide chain in the molecule. With their complex and diverse structures, LPBSs exhibit various biological activities including surface activity as well as anti-cellular and anti-enzymatic activities. LPBSs are also involved in multi-cellular behaviors such as swarming motility and biofilm formation. Among the bacterial genera, Bacillus (Gram-positive) and Pseudomonas (Gram-negative) have received the most attention because they produce a wide range of effective LPBSs that are potentially useful for agricultural, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The biosynthetic mechanisms and gene regulation systems of LPBSs have been extensively analyzed over the last decade. LPBSs are generally synthesized in a ribosome-independent manner with megaenzymes called nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs). Production of active-form NRPSs requires not only transcriptional induction and translation but also post-translational modification and assemblage. The accumulated knowledge reveals the versatility and evolutionary lineage of the NRPSs system. This review provides an overview of the structural and functional diversity of LPBSs and their different biosynthetic mechanisms in Bacillus and Pseudomonas, including both typical and unique systems. Finally, successful genetic engineering of NRPSs for creating novel lipopeptides is also discussed.
Highlights
Biosurfactants are biological surface-active compounds largely produced by a wide variety of microorganisms
Viscosin/massetolide is synthesized by nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) systems that are encoded by three large open reading frames (ORFs), termed viscA/massA, viscB/massB, and viscC/massC
Similar to other NRPSs involved in lipopeptide biosynthesis, the N-terminal C-domain in the first module is highly similar to the N-acyl domain and is presumably involved in N-acylation of the first amino acid
Summary
Biosurfactants are biological surface-active compounds largely produced by a wide variety of microorganisms. They have environmentally friendly properties, such as low toxicity and high biodegradability. Biosurfactants are capable of lowering surface and interfacial tensions effectively and are potential substitutes for widely used chemically synthesized surfactants. Production of effective lipopeptide biosurfactants (LPBSs) was first reported from Gram-positive. Gene clusters encoding multi-modular nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs) for LPBS production have been cloned and characterized from these two genera, and demonstrate their different evolutionary lineages. This article aims to summarize current knowledge of the structural diversity of LPBSs and their biosynthetic systems in the genera Bacillus and Pseudomonas. Current possibilities and limits in the modification of their biosynthetic genes for the synthesis of novel compounds are discussed
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