Several lipopeptidyl nucleoside antibiotics that inhibit bacterial translocase I (MraY) involved in peptidoglycan cell wall biosynthesis contain an aminoribosyl moiety, an unusual sugar appendage in natural products. A-90289 and muraminomicin are the two representative antibiotics that belong to this family. Bioinformatic analysis of the biosynthetic A-90289 gene clusters revealed that five enzymes are likely involved in the assembly and attachment of the aminoribosyl unit. These enzymes of A-90289 are functionally assigned by in vitro characterization. The results reveal a unique ribosylation pathway that highlighted by uridine-5′-monophosphate as the source of the sugar, a phosphorylase strategy to generate a sugar-1-phosphate, and a primary amine-requiring nucleotidylyltransferase that generates the NDP-sugar donor. Muraminomicin, which has a structure similar to A-90289, holds the distinction in that both ribose units are 2-deoxy sugars. The biosynthetic gene cluster of muraminomicin has been identified, cloned and sequenced, and bioinformatic analysis revealed a minimum of 24 open reading frames putatively involved in the biosynthesis, resistance, and regulation of muraminomicin. Similar to the A-90289 pathway, fives enzymes are still likely involved in the assembly of the 2,5-dideoxy-5-aminoribose saccharide unit, and two are now functionally assigned and characterized: Mra20, a 5′-amino-2′,5′-dideoxyuridine phosphorylase and Mra23, a UTP:5-amino-2,5-dideoxy-α-D-ribose-1-phosphate uridylyltransferase. The cumulative results are consistent with the incorporation of the ribosyl appendage of muraminomicin via the archetypical sugar biosynthetic pathway that parallels A-90289 biosynthesis

La graine de soja contient de grandes quantités d'isoflavones (génistéine, daidzéine et glycitéine). En raison de leurs propriétés phytoestrogéniques, ces composés peuvent avoir des effets bénéfiques sur la santé humaine, mais ils peuvent aussi être perçus comme perturbateurs endocriniens, en particulier dans les laits pour nourrissons. La teneur et la composition en isoflavones de la graine diffèrent selon la fraction considérée. Les cotylédons contiennent de la génistéine et de la daidzéine, tandis que les germes, avec une teneur quatre à dix fois supérieure, contiennent majoritairement de la daidzéine et de la glycitéine. Le génotype influence fortement la teneur en isoflavones totales. Le déterminisme du pourcentage des isoflavones est essentiellement génétique. Ce travail porte sur l'étude du déterminisme génétique à l'origine des variations de teneurs et de compositions en isoflavones dans les germes et les cotylédons de la graine, en tenant compte également du net décalage de l'accumulation entre ces deux compartiments, au cours du développement de la graine. Dans un premier temps, les gènes des isoflavone synthases (IFS) de variétés très différenciées pour leurs teneurs et profils d'isoflavones ont été séquencés, puis les expressions des gènes clefs de la biosynthèse (neuf chalcone synthases (CHS), une chalcone réductase (CHR), quatre chalcone isomérases (CHI) et les deux isoflavone synthases (IFS) ont été suivies par RT-PCR quantitative dans les cotylédons et dans les germes, à trois stades critiques du développement de la graine (25, 40 et 60 jours après floraison). La seconde partie de ce travail a été consacrée à l'étude de l'expression de différents gènes candidats de la flavonoïde 6-hydroxylase (F6H) catalysant la première étape de la synthèse de la glycitéine. Le polymorphisme des séquences génomiques IFS1 et IFS2 des isoflavone synthases n'a pas montré de lien avec les différences de teneurs en isoflavones entre les variétés. L'activité transcriptionnelle des gènes de biosynthèse des isoflavones souligne l'existence d'une régulation bien distincte de cette synthèse dans ces deux compartiments. Les taux d'expression des gènes cibles ne sont pas toujours reliés avec les différences de teneurs ou de profils dans les germes et les cotylédons, suggérant ainsi l'effet prépondérant des régulations post-traductionnelles, notamment dans la formation du complexe multienzymatique de biosynthèse de ces composés. Nous avons aussi mis en évidence une forte expression du gène CHS9 codant pour la chalcone synthase 9, avec un profil correspondant plus à l'accumulation des isoflavones dans le germe que dans les cotylédons. Les gènes CHS7 et CHS8 codant pour les chalcone synthases 7 et 8, déjà signalés comme fortement corrélés à la synthèse des isoflavones, sont plus liés à l'accumulation dans les cotylédons que dans les germes. Ces travaux montrent aussi que le gène F6H signalé dans la littérature ne s'exprime pas dans les germes. En revanche, deux candidats dont la séquence est similaire à 79% ont été étudiés. Le gène F6H3 est le seul à s'exprimer dans la graine, uniquement dans le germe. Son expression n'a pas été détectée dans les germes d'une lignée mutante qui ne produit pas de glycitéine. Ce gène est donc un candidat potentiel clef pour la synthèse de la glycitéine dans le germe. La structure particulière de l'enzyme correspondante pourrait indiquer une forte implication de l'architecture du complexe enzymatique et des contraintes qui en découlent dans l'utilisation préférentielle d'une voie ou d'une autre dans ce schéma de biosynthèse. / The soybean seed contains large amounts of isoflavones (genistein, daidzein, and glycitein). Owing to their phytoestrogenic properties, these compounds can have beneficial effects on human health, but they can also be considered as endocrine disruptors, for example in infant formulas. The isoflavone content and composition in the seed depend on the considered fraction. The cotyledons contain only genistein and daidzein, while the hypocotyls are four to ten times more concentrated and contain three isoflavones, mostly daidzein and glycitein. The genotype has a strong influence on total isoflavone content, and even more on the percentage of individual isoflavones in cotyledons and hypocotyls. The objective of this work is to investigate the genetic determinism that underlies such contrasted contents and compositions between the two seed fractions, and the relation between main biosynthetic steps and genotypic differences. First, the genes of isoflavone synthases (IFS) were sequenced in varieties with highly contrasted content and composition. The expression of different keys genes of the biosynthesis (nine chalcone synthases (CHS), a chalcone reductase (CHR), four chalcone isomerases (CHI) and the two isoflavone synthases (IFS) have then been followed by quantitative RT - PCR in the cotyledons and hypocotyls, at three critical stages of seed development (25, 40 and 60 days after flowering). Second, the expression of different candidate genes for the flavonoid 6-hydroxylase (F6H) which catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of the glycitein has been investigated. The polymorphism of the genomic sequences IFS1 and IFS2 of isoflavone synthases was not correlated with differences in isoflavone contents. The transcriptional activity of key genes of the biosynthesis of isoflavones pointed out the existence of a distinct regulation of isoflavone biosynthesis between the two seed fractions. The expression levels of target genes were not always related to differences in isoflavone content or compositions in the hypocotyls and cotyledons. This suggests the overriding effect of post-translational regulation, especially in the formation of multienzyme complex of biosynthesis of these compounds. The chalcone synthase gene CHS9 was highly expressed, with a profile similar to the accumulation of isoflavones in hypocotyls. The chalcone synthase genes CHS7 and CHS8 expressions, already reported as highly correlated to the biosynthesis of isoflavones were more related to accumulation in the cotyledons than in hypocotyls. This work has also shown that the F6H gene, reported in the literature was not expressed in the hypocotyls. However, two candidates with as highly similar coding sequence (79%) have been studied. The F6H3 gene is the only one expressed in the seed, more precisely in the hypocotyls but it was not expressed in the cotyledons. Moreover, it was not expressed in a mutant line which did not accumulate glycitein. This gene is therefore a key potential candidate for the synthesis of the glycitein in hypocotyls. The particular structure of the corresponding enzyme may indicate a strong involvement of the architecture of the multienzyme complex of isoflavones biosynthesis and the constraints arising in the preferential use of a track or another in this scheme of biosynthesis.

<p>The Mediator (Med) complex comprises about 30 subunits and is a transcriptional co-regulator in eukaryotic systems. The core Mediator complex, consisting of the head, middle and tail modules, functions as a bridge between transcription factors and basal transcription machinery, whereas the CDK8 kinase module can attenuate Mediator’s ability to function as either a co-activator or co-repressor. Many Arabidopsis Mediator subunit has been functionally characterized, which reveals critical roles of Mediator in many aspects of plant growth and development, responses to biotic and abiotic stimuli, and metabolic homeostasis. Traditional genetic and biochemical approaches laid the foundation for our understanding of Mediator function, but recent transcriptomic and metabolomic studies have provided deeper insights into how specific subunits cooperate in the regulation of plant metabolism. In Chapter 1, we highlight recent developments in the investigation of Mediator and plant metabolism, with emphasis on the large-scale biology studies of <i>med</i> mutants.</p> <p>We previously found that MED5, an Arabidopsis Mediator tail subunit, is required for maintaining phenylpropanoid homeostasis. A semi-dominant mutation (<i>reduced epidermal fluorescence 4-3</i>, <i>ref4-3</i>) that causes a single amino acid substitution in MED5b functions as a strong suppressor of the pathway, leading to <a>decreased soluble phenylpropanoid accumulation, reduced lignin content and dwarfism</a>. In contrast, loss of MED5a and MED5b (<i>med5</i>) results in increased levels of phenylpropanoids. In Chapter 2, we present our finding that <i>ref4-3</i> requires CDK8, a Mediator kinase module subunit, to repress plant growth even though the repression of phenylpropanoid metabolism in <i>ref4-3 </i>is CDK8-independent. Transcriptome profiling revealed that salicylic acid (SA) biosynthesis genes are up-regulated in a CDK8-dependent manner in <i>ref4-3,</i> resulting in hyper-accumulation of SA and up-regulation of SA response genes. Both growth repression and hyper-accumulation of SA in <i>ref4-3</i> require CDK8 with intact kinase activity, but these SA phenotypes are not connected with dwarfing. In contrast, mRNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis revealed the up-regulation of a DNA J protein-encoding gene in <i>ref4-3</i>, the elimination of which partially suppresses dwarfing. Together, our study reveals genetic interactions between Mediator tail and kinase module subunits and enhances our understanding of dwarfing in phenylpropanoid pathway mutants.</p> <p>In Chapter 3, we characterize other phenotypes of <i>med5</i> and <i>ref4-3</i>, and find that in addition to the up-regulated phenylpropanoid metabolism, <i>med5</i> show other interesting phenotypes including hypocotyl and petiole elongation as well as accelerated flowering, all of which are known collectively as the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS), suggesting that MED5 antagonize shade avoidance in wild-type plants. In contrast, the constitutive <i>ref4-3 </i>mutant protein inhibits the process, and the stunted growth of <i>ref4-3 </i>mutants is substantially alleviated by the light treatment that triggers SAS. Moreover, <i>ref4-3</i> mimics the loss-of-function <i>med5</i> mutants in maintaining abscisic acid (ABA) levels under both normal and drought growth conditions. The phenotypic characterization of <i>med5</i> mutants extend our understanding of the role of Mediator in SAS and ABA signaling, providing further insight into the physiological and metabolic responses that require MED5.</p> <p>In Chapter 4, we explore the function of MED5 and CDK8 in gene expression regulation by investigating the effect of mutations in Mediator including <i>med5</i>, <i>ref4-3</i>, <i>cdk8-1</i> and <i>ref4-3 cdk8-1</i> on genome-wide Pol II distribution. We find that loss of MED5 results in loss of Pol II occupancy at many target genes. In contrast, many genes show enriched Pol II levels in <i>ref4-3</i>, some of which overlap with those showing reduced Pol II occupancy in <i>med5</i>. In addition, Pol II occupancy is significantly reduced when CDK8 is disrupted in <i>ref4-3</i>. Our results help to narrow down the direct gene targets of MED5 and identify genes that may be closely related to the growth deficiency observed in <i>ref4-3</i> plants, providing a critical foundation to elucidate the molecular function of Mediator in transcription regulation.</p>

Os compostos de origem microbiana tem readquirido interesse pela biodisponibilidade, especificidade de alvo e diversidade química, mas as vias biosintéticas permanecem crípticas em condições de cultura. Uma estratégia para expressa-las é a super-expressão de genes ativadores. O laboratório de Bio-Produtos no ICB na USP tem trabalhado com Streptomyces olindensis produtor da Cosmomicina D uma molécula com atividade antitumoral de interesse devido ao padrão de glicosilação. O genoma de S. olindensis foi sequenciado e submetido ao NCBI (JJOH00000000) e utilizando o software antiSMASH foram identificados 33 clusters envolvidos na produção de metabolitos secundários. Encontraram-se clusters gênicos para a produção de metabolitos como Melanina, Geosmina, entre outros. Além, foi realizada uma analise de genômica comparativa para caracterizar e anotar as 22 vias biossintéticas desconhecidas em S. olindensis. Finalmente, escolheram-se a via do aminociclitol e um Policetídeo Tipo I para a super-expressão de genes reguladores levando a detecção do composto sob condições de cultura. / Microbial metabolites regain interest due to its bioavailability, target specificity and chemical diversity, but the biosynthetic pathways remain silenced under culture conditions. A strategy to obtain them is the over expression of regulatory genes. Bio-products laboratory at USP has been working with Streptomyces olindensis, products of Cosmomycin D, an antitumoral molecule with a distinctive glycosylation pattern. S. olindensis genome was sequenced and submitted to NCBI (JJOH00000000) and employing antiSMASH server 33 secondary metabolite related clusters were identified. Known pathways were found such as genes for melanin production, Geosmin and others. Additionally, a comparative genomic approach was used to characterize the 22 biosynthetic unknown pathways described in S. olindensis. Subsequently, Aminocyclitol and Polyketide Type I were chosen to evaluated, over expressing the regulatory genes, leading to the compound detection in regular culture conditions.

Plus de 300 alcaloïdes d’Amaryllidaceae doués d’activités biologiques ont été isolés à partir des plantes appartenant à cette famille. De nos jours, seule la galanthamine, utilisée pour le traitement palliatif de la maladie d’Alzheimer, est commercialisée. L’accumulation de ces alcaloïdes dans les plantes est limitée. La culture in vitro est une méthode alternative intéressante pour l’obtention plus aisée de ces alcaloïdes à haute valeur ajoutée. Le premier objectif de ce travail vise à développer une méthode de purification efficace, simple et rapide des extraits de plantes préalablement à leur analyse en LCMS et GCMS. Le second objectif est d’étudier l’effet de plusieurs facteurs exogènes, ajoutés au milieu de culture de bulbilles de Leucojum aestivum et de sa variété Gravety Giant en bioréacteurs RITA®, sur les voies de biosynthèse de la galanthamine et de la lycorine. La variation des paramètres exogènes a permis une accumulation accrue en galanthamine et en lycorine (0,814 mg/g et 1,54 mg/g de matière sèche respectivement) dans les bulbilles. Le troisième objectif porte sur l’isolement et l’identification d’endophytes à partir de bulbes in vivo et in vitro de trois espèces d’Amaryllidaceae (L. aestivum, Narcissus pseudonarcissus et Galanthus elwesii). Des bactéries endophytes du genre Bacillus ont été identifiées. Un nouvel alcaloïde a été isolé à partir des cultures bactériennes / Over 300 Amaryllidaceae alkaloids possessing a wide range of biological activities have been isolated from plants belonging to this family. Galanthamine, used for the palliative treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, is the only one commercialized. The biodisponiblity of these alkaloids is low. In vitro culture offers an alternative yet interesting approach for the biotechnological production of these valuable alkaloids. The aim of this work was, first, to develop a fast, efficient and easy purification method of plant extracts prior to their phytochemical analysis both in LCMS and GCMS. Second, the combined effects of bioreactor RITA® culture and feeding with different exogenous factors on the biosynthetic pathway of both galanthamine and lycorine were studied. The experiments were conducted both with Leucojum aestivum and L. aestivum ‘Gravety Giant’ bulblets. The variation of several exogenous parameters resulted in a better accumulation of galanthamine and lycorine (0.814 mg/g and 1.54 mg/g dry weight respectively) in the bulblets. The third aim was to isolate and identify alkaloid producing endophytes from in vivo and in vitro bulbs of three Amaryllidaceae species (L. aestivum, Narcissus pseudonarcissus and Galanthus elwesii). Bacterial endophtes belonging to the Bacillus genus were identified. A new alkaloid was isolated from bacterial liquid cultures

Os compostos de origem microbiana tem readquirido interesse pela biodisponibilidade, especificidade de alvo e diversidade química, mas as vias biosintéticas permanecem crípticas em condições de cultura. Uma estratégia para expressa-las é a super-expressão de genes ativadores. O laboratório de Bio-Produtos no ICB na USP tem trabalhado com Streptomyces olindensis produtor da Cosmomicina D uma molécula com atividade antitumoral de interesse devido ao padrão de glicosilação. O genoma de S. olindensis foi sequenciado e submetido ao NCBI (JJOH00000000) e utilizando o software antiSMASH foram identificados 33 clusters envolvidos na produção de metabolitos secundários. Encontraram-se clusters gênicos para a produção de metabolitos como Melanina, Geosmina, entre outros. Além, foi realizada uma analise de genômica comparativa para caracterizar e anotar as 22 vias biossintéticas desconhecidas em S. olindensis. Finalmente, escolheram-se a via do aminociclitol e um Policetídeo Tipo I para a super-expressão de genes reguladores levando a detecção do composto sob condições de cultura. / Microbial metabolites regain interest due to its bioavailability, target specificity and chemical diversity, but the biosynthetic pathways remain silenced under culture conditions. A strategy to obtain them is the over expression of regulatory genes. Bio-products laboratory at USP has been working with Streptomyces olindensis, products of Cosmomycin D, an antitumoral molecule with a distinctive glycosylation pattern. S. olindensis genome was sequenced and submitted to NCBI (JJOH00000000) and employing antiSMASH server 33 secondary metabolite related clusters were identified. Known pathways were found such as genes for melanin production, Geosmin and others. Additionally, a comparative genomic approach was used to characterize the 22 biosynthetic unknown pathways described in S. olindensis. Subsequently, Aminocyclitol and Polyketide Type I were chosen to evaluated, over expressing the regulatory genes, leading to the compound detection in regular culture conditions.

La pourriture bleue causée par Penicillium expansum est l'une des maladies les plus dommageables des fruits pomaceae (pommes et poires). Outre des dégâts directs, cette maladie pose un problème de santé publique car l'agent pathogène produit des mycotoxines nocives pour l'homme et les animaux dont la plus sérieuse est la patuline. La croissance du champignon pathogène et la production de patuline requièrent des conditions physico-chimiques particulières. Les informations existantes à ce propos demeurent cependant modestes et insuffisantes pour envisager de développer des moyens de lutte contre l'apparition du champignon. Par ailleurs, la patuline reste avec l'ochratoxine A, les seules toxines dont la voie de biosynthèse n'a pas encore été complètement établie, tant sur le plan chimique que moléculaire. Cette étude apporte dans un premier temps des données complémentaires sur les facteurs physico-chimiques (température, pH….) qui conditionnent la croissance de P. expansum de même que sa capacité à produire la patuline. La connaissance de ces besoins et de ces conditions conduit en pratique à lutter et contrôler la contamination par la patuline tout le long de la chaine alimentaire. Dans un deuxième temps, cette thèse apporte des améliorations spectaculaires sur le plan fondamental, en termes d'élucidation de la voie de biosynthèse de la patuline. Le cluster des gènes impliqués dans la biosynthèse de cette mycotoxine chez l'espèce la plus préoccupante P. expansum a été entièrement identifié et caractérisé. Pour lever encore plus le voile sur la biosynthèse de cette mycotoxine, la caractérisation du facteur de régulation spécifique de cette voie (patL) a été également établie. Une perturbation de ce gène a provoqué une incapacité de production de patuline et une sévère diminution de l'expression des gènes Pat. De même, grâce à ce mutant déficient, il a été montré que la patuline pourrait agir comme facteur de virulence lors du développement de la moisissure dans les pommes. La caractérisation de la dernière étape de la voie de biosynthèse de la patuline a ensuite été entreprise par mutagenèse dirigée du gène patE du cluster de la patuline, chez la même espèce. Ce dernier code pour une Glucose méthanol Choline (GMC) oxydoréductase responsable de la conversion de l'ascladiol en patuline. L'ascladiol est également une molécule clé de la dégradation de la patuline par diverses espèces bactériennes ou de levures et plus particulièrement lors de la fermentation alcoolique. La non-toxicité de l'ascladiol accumulé chez le mutant ∆patE a été démontrée sur une lignée cellulaire intestinale humaine (Caco-2), suggérant que la patuline perd sa toxicité avec l'ouverture du deuxième cycle. Finalement, un système de détection et de quantification de P. expansum par PCR en temps réel a été développé en ciblant un gène hautement spécifique de la voie de biosynthèse de la patuline, patF. Cette approche préventive nous a ainsi permis d'avoir une estimation rapide de la contamination en patuline dans les pommes à partir de la quantification d'ADN de P. expansum. En conclusion, l'ensemble de ces travaux qui s'inscrivent dans le cadre de la gestion du risque « patuline » dans la filière fruit a permis d'amener des réponses tant sur le plan fondamental que sur le plan appliqué avec le séquençage du cluster, le développement d'un outil de diagnostic et la démonstration que l'ascladiol ne présentait aucune cytotoxicité. / Among diseases affecting apples, blue mold caused by Penicillium expansum is a major concern causing yield and quality losses due to the production of mycotoxins, of which patulin is the most alarming one. This mycotoxin was proven to be harmful for humans and animals. The pathogen growth and the patulin production occur under specific physico-chemical conditions (temperature, pH…). However, the description of these conditions in literature remains largely insufficient for the development of strategies to fight the development of the fungus. Furthermore, patulin remains, along with ochratoxin A, the only toxins for which the biosynthetic pathway is not fully established yet at both chemical and molecular levels. Firstly, this study provides supplementary data on the physico-chemical factors that modulate P. expansum growth and its ability to produce patulin. The acquaintance of these conditions leads, in practice, to the control of the patulin contamination along the food chain. Secondly, significant improvements were brought on the fundamental level, especially by elucidating the patulin biosynthetic pathway. The cluster of genes involved in the biosynthesis of this mycotoxin was fully identified and characterized in the species of greatest concern P. expansum. In order to reveal additional info on the biosynthesis of this mycotoxin, the specific factor of the pathway (patL) was characterized. The disruption of this gene has led to failure in patulin production and an important decrease in Pat genes expression. Furthermore, pathogenesis studies, using this same deficient strain showed that patulin potentially acts as a virulence factor during P. expansum development on apples. The last step of the patulin biosynthetic pathway was later characterized by site-directed mutagenesis of the patE gene in the same species. This gene encodes a Glucose Methanol Choline (GMC) oxidoreductase that is responsible for the conversion of ascladiol to patulin. Ascladiol is not only the last intermediate in the patulin pathway but also the main product of patulin degradation during the alcoholic fermentation of apple juice. The non-toxicity of ascladiol accumulated by the ΔpatE strain was proved against the human Caco-2 cell line. Finally a Real time PCR assay was developed to specifically detect and quantify P. expansum. This was done by targeting a highly specific gene from the patulin gene cluster in P. expansum, patF. This predictive approach allowed the quick estimation of the patulin content via the quantification of the P. expansum DNA in apples. To conclude, this thesis is part of the patulin's risk management study in the fruit sector; it provides significant improvements on both fundamental and practical levels. These advances are mainly characterized by the sequencing of the patulin gene cluster, the development of a molecular diagnostic tool and the demonstration of the non-cytotoxicity of ascladiol.

Natural products are bioactive secondary metabolites produced by living organisms and are prevalently utilized as pharmaceutical drugs. Marine adapted organisms are a promising source of new natural products possessing unique chemical structures and biological activities. By studying the biosynthetic pathways employed by living organisms to produce natural products, insights into new strategies to generate molecules to combat disease and overcome drug resistance may be gained. This thesis study aimed to uncover the biosynthetic pathway employed by a marine actinomycete, Nocardiopsis sp. CMB-M0232, to catalyze the assembly of the nocardioazines. These molecules are a group of 2,5-diketopiperazine natural products that feature structurally unique functional groups. Nocardioazine A, the hypothesized end product of the nocardioazine biosynthetic pathway, exhibits anticancer activity. Bioinformatics analyses revealed three biosynthetic gene clusters from Nocardiopsis encoding proteins with hypothesized roles in nocardioazine A biosynthesis. Two cyclodipeptide synthases (CDPSs), NozA and NcdA, were biochemically characterized in vivo and in vitro to reveal that both are substrate specific enzymes that utilize tryptophan-charged tRNA substrates to catalyze assembly of cyclo(L-Trp-L-Trp), a proposed precursor of nocardioazines. Fidelity is uncommon amongst characterized CDPSs, making NozA and NcdA important CDPS family additions. This study also aimed to characterize NozD and NozE, two cytochrome P450 homologs with predicted roles as diketopiperazine-tailoring enzymes. Heterologous expression of these enzymes in Streptomyces strains was not able to confirm the functions of NozD and NozE but set the stage for future studies to optimize conditions for probing their roles in nocardioazine A biosynthesis. The results gathered from this study, along with future work to better understand the engineering of unique functional groups from Nocardiopsis may provide opportunities to produce new bioactive molecules.

No description available.

Introduction : La cécité cornéenne est la 4e cause de cécité dans le monde et la greffe de cornée demeure le seul traitement accepté. Toutefois, dans bien des pays, les banques d'yeux n'arrivent pas à répondre à la demande et il existe un besoin croissant pour des alternatives aux cornées humaines. De plus, chez les patients souffrant de pathologies cornéennes avec inflammation sévère, le pronostic d’une greffe est à haut risque de complications, d’échec et de perte de vision complète. Il est donc nécessaire de développer des implants capables de dépasser les importantes limites des greffons natifs humains pour ces patients à haut risque. Objectif : Développer et évaluer diverses techniques d’examens cliniques permettant de mesurer la biocompatibilité et la performance de substituts cornéens biosynthétiques implantées dans des cornées humaines ex vivo et in vivo, en vue de leur implantation ultérieure chez l’humain. Méthodes : Des protocoles chirurgicaux ont été développés et testés avec des substituts cornéens solides et liquides. La lampe à fente, la tomographie par cohérence optique, la tonométrie, l’esthésiométrie, la pachymétrie par ultrasons, la microscopie spéculaire et confocale, la topographie de la surface cornéenne, ainsi que l’angiographie ont été optimisées pour les modèles ex vivo humain et in vivo animal. Enfin, le prélèvement, l’entretien et la préparation des tissus cornéens frais ont été adaptés pour des études futures de l’histopathologie, de la microscopie électronique par transmission et de l’immunohistopathologie. Résultats et analyses : Les procédures développées ont généré des données permettant de comprendre l’impact des implants dans le tissu cornéen dans le but de perfectionner les implants injectables et de mettre en évidence la régénération cornéenne des implants in vivo. Les défis rencontrés lors du développement des techniques d’examen et leur solution ont également été recueillis. Conclusion : Ces techniques utilisées à travers les deux modèles étudiés ont permis de recueillir des données préliminaires qui serviront à l’élaboration et l’optimisation d’un implant injectable qui sera testé chez les patients à haut risque de rejet dans le cadre d’un essai clinique. / Introduction: Corneal blindness is the 4th leading cause of blindness in the world and corneal transplantation remains the only accepted treatment. However, in many countries, eye banks are failing to meet demand and there is a growing need for alternatives to human corneas. In addition, in patients with corneal pathologies with severe inflammation, the prognosis of a transplant is at high risk of complications, failure and complete loss of vision. It is therefore necessary to develop implants capable of exceeding the important limits of native human grafts for these high-risk patients. Objective: To develop and test various clinical examination techniques to measure the biocompatibility and performance of corneal biosynthetic substitutes on ex vivo human corneas and in vivo feline corneas, for a subsequent implantation in humans. Methods: Surgical protocols were developed and tested with solid and liquid corneal substitutes. Slit lamp, optical coherence tomography, tonometry, esthesiometry, ultrasound pachymetry, specular and confocal microscopy, corneal surface topography, and angiography were optimized for ex vivo human corneas and in vivo animal models. Finally, the collection, maintenance and preparation of fresh corneal tissue were adapted for future studies of histopathology, transmission electron microscopy and immunohistopathology. Results and analyzes: The developed procedures have generated data to understand the impact of implants in corneal tissue in order to improve injectable implants and highlight the corneal regeneration of implants in vivo. Challenges encountered in the development of examination techniques and their solution were also collected. Conclusion: These techniques used across the different models have yielded preliminary data that will be used to develop and optimize an injectable implant that will be tested in patients at high risk of rejection as part of a clinical trial.