Monasone Naphthoquinone Biosynthesis and Resistance in <i>Monascus</i> Fungi
Mu Li, Lijing Kang, Xiaoli Ding, Jiao Liu, Qingpei Liu, Yanchun Shao, István Molnár, Fusheng Chen
Abstract
azaphilone pigment biosynthetic gene cluster. Early biosynthetic intermediates are shared by the two pathways. Some enzymes encoded by the supercluster play double duty in contributing to both pathways, while others are specific for one or the other pathway. The monasone subcluster is independently regulated and inducible by elicitation with competing microorganisms. This study illustrates genomic and biosynthetic parsimony in fungi and proposes a potential path for the evolution of the mosaic-like azaphilone-naphthoquinone supercluster. The monasone subcluster also encodes a two-tiered self-resistance mechanism that models resistance determinants that may transfer to target microorganisms or emerge in cancer cells in case of naphthoquinone-type cytotoxic agents.