Discovery of a Unique Flavonoid Biosynthesis Mechanism in Fungi by Genome Mining

Flavonoids are important plant natural products with variable structures and bioactivities. All known plant flavonoids are generated under the catalysis of a type III polyketide synthase (PKS) followed by a chalcone isomerase (CHI) and a flavone synthase (FNS). In this study, the biosynthetic gene cluster of chlorflavonin, a fungal flavonoid with acetolactate synthase inhibitory activity, was discovered using a self-resistance-gene-directed strategy. A novel flavonoid biosynthetic pathway in fungi was revealed. A core nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase (NRPS-PKS) is responsible for the generation of the key precursor chalcone. Then, a new type of CHI catalyzes the conversion of a chalcone into a flavanone by a histidine-mediated oxa-Michael addition mechanism. Finally, the desaturation of flavanone to flavone is catalyzed by a new type of FNS, a flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-dependent oxidoreductase.