LAUSR

The 6,6-quinolone scaffolds on which viridicatin-type fungal alkaloids are built are frequently found in metabolites that display useful biological activities. Here we report in vitro and computational analyses leading to the discovery of a hemocyanin-like protein AsqI from the Aspergillus nidulans aspoquinolone biosynthetic pathway that forms viridicatins via a conversion of the cyclopenin-type 6,7-bicyclic system into the viridicatin-type 6,6-bicyclic core through elimination of carbon dioxide and methylamine through methyl isocyanate.Viridicatin is a fungal alkaloid. Here, the authors identify and characterize the cyclopenase that catalyzes the last step of its biosynthesis in Aspergillus nidulans, the conversion of cyclopenin to viridicatin, and find that the reaction proceeds via an unusual elimination mechanism.