Thousands of natural products are derived from the fused cyclopentane-pyran molecular scaffold nepetalactol. These natural products are used in an enormous range of applications that span the agricultural and medical industries. For example, nepetalactone, the oxidized derivative of nepetalactol, is known for its cat attractant properties as well as potential as an insect repellent. Most of these naturally occurring nepetalactol-derived compounds arise from only two out of the eight possible stereoisomers, 7S-cis-trans and 7R-cis-cis nepetalactols. Here we use a combination of naturally occurring and engineered enzymes to produce seven of the eight possible nepetalactol or nepetalactone stereoisomers. These enzymes open the possibilities for biocatalytic production of a broader range of iridoids, providing a versatile system for the diversification of this important natural product scaffold.

数以千计的天然产物来源于稠合的环戊烷-吡喃分子支架荆芥内醇。这些天然产品用于农业和医疗行业的广泛应用。例如，荆芥内酯是荆芥内酯的氧化衍生物，以其吸引猫的特性以及作为驱虫剂的潜力而闻名。这些天然存在的荆芥内酯衍生化合物中的大多数仅来自八种可能的立体异构体中的两种，即 7 S -顺式-反式和 7 R -顺式-顺式荆芥内酯。在这里，我们使用天然存在和工程酶的组合来生产八种可能的荆芥内酯或荆芥内酯立体异构体中的七种。这些酶为生物催化生产更广泛的环烯醚萜类化合物开辟了可能性，为这种重要的天然产物支架的多样化提供了一个多功能系统。