poliketides

Polyketides are a diverse class of naturally occurring organic compounds produced by bacteria, fungi, and plants. They are biosynthesized through the iterative condensation of simple carboxylic acid units, primarily acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, by large enzyme complexes known as polyketide synthases (PKSs). This process is analogous to fatty acid biosynthesis but involves a wider range of enzymatic domains and variations in substrate selection and processing, leading to a vast array of structural complexity. The modular nature of PKS enzymes allows for the assembly of complex carbon skeletons that can then undergo further modifications, such as glycosylation, methylation, halogenation, and cyclization, to yield the final polyketide product. The structural diversity of polyketides is immense, ranging from simple linear chains to highly fused and oxygenated ring systems. This structural variability is responsible for the wide range of biological activities exhibited by polyketides. Many polyketides are biologically active and have found significant applications as pharmaceuticals. Notable examples include antibiotics like erythromycin and rapamycin, immunosuppressants, anticancer agents, and antifungal drugs. The study of polyketides is an active area of research, focusing on understanding their biosynthesis, discovering new compounds with novel activities, and engineering PKS systems to produce custom-designed molecules.