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Biosynthesis

No job too small for a giant enzyme

Modular polyketide synthases are multidomain megasynthases catalyzing polyketide chain elongation, modification and release. New work reveals a full ~360-kDa modular polyketide synthases with just one active domain, ketosynthase, catalyzing an amidation that releases the completed product (a reaction type typically catalyzed by dedicated thioesterases).

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Fig. 1: CalA3 is an unusual modular PKS catalyzing amidation-mediated polyketide chain release.

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Correspondence to Yi Tang.

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Sun, Z., Tang, Y. No job too small for a giant enzyme. Nat Chem Biol 19, 934–936 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01386-3

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