Comparative genomics and transcriptomics analyses provide insights into the high yield and regulatory mechanism of Norvancomycin biosynthesis in Amycolatopsis orientalis NCPC 2-48

BACKGROUND: Norvancomycin has been widely used in clinic to treat against MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and MRSE (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis) infections in China. Amycolatopsis orientalis NCPC 2-48, a high yield strain derived from A. orientalis CPCC 200066, has been applied in industrial large-scale production of norvancomycin by North China Pharmaceutical Group. However, the potential high-yield and regulatory mechanism involved in norvancomycin biosynthetic pathway has not yet been addressed. RESULTS: Here we sequenced and compared the genomes and transcriptomes of A. orientalis CPCC 200066 and NCPC 2-48. These two genomes are extremely similar with an identity of more than 99.9%, and no duplication and structural variation was found in the norvancomycin biosynthetic gene cluster. Comparative transcriptomic analysis indicated that biosynthetic genes of norvancomycin, as well as some primary metabolite pathways for the biosynthetic precursors of norvancomycin were generally upregulated. AoStrR1 and AoLuxR1, two cluster-situated regulatory genes in norvancomycin cluster, were 23.3-fold and 5.8-fold upregulated in the high yield strain at 48 h, respectively. Over-expression of AoStrR1 and AoLuxR1 in CPCC 200066 resulted in an increase of norvancomycin production, indicating their positive roles in norvancomycin biosynthesis. Furthermore, AoStrR1 can regulate the production of norvancomycin by directly interacting with at least 8 promoters of norvancomycin biosynthetic genes or operons. CONCLUSION: Our results suggested that the high yield of NCPC 2-48 can be ascribed to increased expression level of norvancomycin biosynthetic genes in its cluster as well as the genes responsible for the supply of its precursors. The norvancomycin biosynthetic genes are presumably regulated by AoStrR1 and AoLuxR1, of them AoStrR1 is possibly the ultimate pathway-specific regulator for the norvancomycin production. These results are helpful for further clarification of the holistic and pathway-specific regulatory mechanism of norvancomycin biosynthesis in the industrial production strain.