Analysis of a Prodigiosin Biosynthetic Gene Cluster from the Marine Bacterium Hahella chejuensis KCTC 2396

Marine bacterium Hahella chejuensis KCTC 2396 simultaneously produced red antibiotic prodigiosin and undecylprodiginine. A complete set of the prodigiosin biosynthetic gene cluster has been cloned, sequenced, and successfully expressed in a heterologous host. Sequence analysis of the gene cluster revealed 14 ORFs showing high similarity to pig and red genes from Serratia spp. and Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2), respectively, and the gene organization was almost: similar to that of pig genes. These genes were named hap for Hahella prodigiosin, and determined to be transcribed as a single operon, by RT-PCR experiment. Based on the hap gene mutagenesis experiments and comparative analysis with pig and red genes, we propose a prodigiosin-biosynthetic pathway in KCTC 2396.