sb9b00352_si_001.pdf (1.98 MB)
Interkingdom Genetic Mix-and-Match To Produce Novel Sunscreens
journal contribution
posted on 2019-11-07, 15:11 authored by Andrew
R. Osborn, Taifo MahmudSunscreen-containing
skincare products protect the skin from damage
caused by sun exposure. However, many of them contain oxybenzone and/or
octinoxate, which have been reported to be toxic to juvenile coral
and to cause coral bleaching. Thus, there is a growing need for new
sunscreen compounds that are less harmful to the environment. Here,
we report an engineered biosynthetic pathway employing genes from
a vertebrate and two Gram-(+) bacteria that forms novel sunscreen
compounds with hybrid structures of gadusol and mycosporine-like amino
acids, both of which are found in marine environments. These compounds,
named gadusporines, have unique UV absorbance at 340 nm, expanding
the range of mycosporine- and gadusol-based sunscreen products. The
synthesis of gadusporines in Streptomyces coelicolor establishes a platform for the design and production of novel sunscreens.