Dissection of the Glycosylation in the Biosynthesis of the Heptadecaglycoside Antibiotic Saccharomicin A.

Oligosaccharide natural products have diverse biological activities and represent a potentially important source for drug development. In this study, we focus on the glycosylation pathway in the biosynthesis of saccharomicin A (SA-A), an oligosaccharide antibiotic containing 17 sugar moieties. By extensive gene-knockout studies with comparative metabolic profile analysis, we established a complete pathway in assembling the heptadecasaccharide chain of SA-A, the longest saccharide chain found in natural products.