# Paenidepsins are a Family of Lipopeptides from Paenibacillus

## TL;DR

Scientists discovered a new family of antifungal lipopeptides called paenidepsins from a wheat-associated Paenibacillus strain, using advanced mass spectrometry and genomic tools.

## Contribution

The study identifies a new lipopeptide family and a new biosynthetic gene cluster family in Paenibacillus species.

## Key findings

- Paenidepsin A and its analogs B–F were isolated and structurally characterized.
- A new biosynthetic gene cluster family was identified through genome mining.
- NRPS domain analysis revealed recombination-driven diversification of the gene cluster.

## Abstract

A new 12-membered cyclic lipopeptide
with antifungal
activity,
paenidepsin A (1), was isolated from the common-wheat-associated
bacterial strain Paenibacillus apiarius MW-14. Its chemical structure was elucidated using a combination
of extensive tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) and nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectroscopy experiments. Further paenidepsin analogs
B–F (2–6) produced by the
same strain were detected through molecular networking and structurally
characterized via MS/MS analyses. Peptidogenomic analysis revealed
the corresponding nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) biosynthetic
gene cluster (BGC), while through genome mining, 72 homologous BGCs
were identified from publicly available bacterial genomes. Comprehensive
phylogenetic and comparative analyses demonstrated that paenidepsin-like
BGCs constitute a new gene cluster family from Paenibacillus. Detailed NRPS domain-level analyses provided bioinformatic evidence
for recombination-driven diversification of this BGC. Our findings
illustrate the utility of integrating mass spectrometric and genomic
tools to discover diverse natural products, and highlight the significant
biosynthetic capacity of Paenibacillus species.