Mining for a new class of fungal natural products: the evolution, diversity, and distribution of isocyanide synthase biosynthetic gene clusters

The products of non-canonical isocyanide synthase (ICS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) mediate pathogenesis, microbial competition, and metal-homeostasis through metal-associated chemistry. We sought to enable research into this class of compounds by characterizing the biosynthetic potential and evolutionar y history of these BGCs across the Fungal Kingdom. We amalgamated a pipeline of tools to predict BGCs based on shared promoter motifs and located 3800 ICS BGCs in 3300 genomes, making ICS BGCs the fifth largest class of specialized metabolites compared to canonical classes found by antiSMASH. ICS BGCs are not evenly distributed across fungi, with evidence of gene-family expansions in several Ascomycete families. We show that the ICS dit1/2 gene cluster family (GCF), which was prior only studied in yeast, is present in similar to 30% of all Ascomycetes. The dit variety ICS exhibits greater similarity to bacterial ICS than other fungal ICS, suggesting a potential convergence of the ICS backbone domain. The evolutionary origins of the dit GCF in Ascomycota are ancient and these genes are diversifying in some lineages. Our results create a roadmap for future research into ICS BGCs. We developed a website (https:// isocyanides.fungi.wisc.edu/) that facilitates the exploration and downloading of all identified fungal ICS BGCs and GCFs. [GRAPHICS] .

Automated summary

The products of non-canonical isocyanide synthase (ICS) biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) play important roles in pathogenesis, microbial competition, and metal-homeostasis. By analyzing the biosynthetic potential and evolutionary history of these BGCs across the Fungal Kingdom, we identified and characterized 3800 ICS BGCs in 3300 genomes. Our results show that ICS BGCs are not evenly distributed across fungi, with gene-family expansions in several Ascomycete families. We also discovered the presence of the dit1/2 gene cluster family (GCF) in about 30% of all Ascomycetes, highlighting the potential convergence of ICS backbone domain.