Nonribosomal peptides synthetases and their applications in industry

Abstract

Nonribosomal peptides are products that fall into the class of secondary metabolites with a diverse properties as toxins, siderophores, pigments, or antibiotics, among others. Unlike other proteins, its biosynthesis is independent of ribosomal machinery. Nonribosomal peptides are synthesized on large nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) enzyme complexes. NRPSs are defined as multimodular enzymes, consisting of repeated modules. The NRPS enzymes are at operons and their regulation can be positive or negative at transcriptional or post-translational level. The presence of NRPS enzymes has been reported in the three domains of life, being prevalent in bacteria. Nonribosomal peptides are use in human medicine, crop protection, or environment restoration; and their use as commercial products has been approved by the U. S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The key features of nonribosomal peptides and NRPS enzymes, and some of their applications in industry are summarized.