Cloning and Heterologous Expression of a Gene Cluster for the Biosynthesis of Tetracenomycin C, the Anthracycline Antitumor Antibiotic of Streptomyces glaucescens

Through complementation of mutations specifically blocking the biosynthesis of tetracenomycin C by Streptomyces glaucescens and selecting for resistance to tetracenomycin C in Streptomyces lividans, all of the genes for the production of tetracenomycin C were inserted in pIJ702, a high copy-number Streptomyces gene cloning vector. The tcm biosynthetic and resistance genes occur as a single cluster in the S. glaucescens genome and are expressed in heterologous streptomycete hosts like S. lividans, resulting in the overproduction of pigmented intermediates of the tetracenomycin C biosynthetic pathway.