Tunicamycin 16:1 is a mixture of tunicamycin structural isomers that contain a 16-carbon N-acyl chain with variable branching patterns. The N-acyl chain incorporated into tunicamycins, like tunicamycin 16:1, is derived from the same pool of cellular branched-chain fatty acids (BCFAs) in Streptomyces and directly impacts the biological activity of each individual tunicamycin variant.1,2,3 Purified tunicamycin 16:1 with the iso branching configuration inhibits bacterial phospho-MurNAc-pentapeptide transferase (MraY) with an IC50 value of 0.11 µM.2
1.Price, N.P.J., Jackson, M.A., Hartman, T.M., et al.Branched chain lipid metabolism as a determinant of the N-Acyl variation of Streptomyces natural productsACS Chem. Biol.16(1)116-124(2021) 2.Hering, J., Dunevall, E., Snijder, A., et al.Exploring the active site of the antibacterial target MraY by modified tunicamycinsACS Chem Biol.15(11)2885-2895(2020) 3.Duksin, D., and Mahoney, W.C.Relationship of the structure and biological activity of the natural homologues of tunicamycinJ. Biol. Chem.257(6)3105-3109(1982)