Yes / There is a need to develop asymmetric routes to functionalised β-lactams, which remain the most important group of antibacterials. Here we describe biocatalytic and protein engineering studies concerning carbapenem biosynthesis enzymes, aiming to enable stereoselective production of functionalised carbapenams with three contiguous chiral centres. Structurallyguided substitutions of wildtype carboxymethylproline synthases enable tuning of their C-N and C-C bond forming capacity to produce 5-carboxymethylproline derivatives substituted at C-4 and C-6, from amino acid aldehyde and malonyl-CoA derivatives. Use of tandem enzyme incubations comprising an engineered carboxymethylproline synthase and an alkylmalonylCoA forming enzyme (i.e. malonyl-CoA synthetase or crotonyl-CoA carboxylase reductase) can improve stereocontrol and expand the product range. Some of the prepared 4,6-disubstituted-5-carboxymethylproline derivatives are converted to bicyclic β-lactams by carbapenam synthetase catalysis. The results illustrate the utility of tandem enzyme systems involving engineered crotonases for asymmetric bicyclic β-lactam synthesis.

Yes / Stereoselective biocatalysis by crotonase superfamily enzymes is exemplified by use of engineered 5-carboxymethylproline synthases (CMPSs) for preparation of functionalized 5-carboxymethylproline (5-CMP) derivatives methylated at two positions (i.e. C2/C6, C3/C6 and C5/C6), including products with a quaternary centre, from appropriately-substituted-amino acid aldehydes and C-2 epimeric methylmalonyl-CoA. The enzymatically-produced disubstituted 5-CMPs were converted by carbapenam synthetase into methylated bicyclic Β-lactams, which manifest improved hydrolytic stability compared to the unsubstituted carbapenams. The results highlight the use of modi-fied carbapenem biosynthesis enzymes for production of new carbapenams with improved properties. / Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BB/L000121/1)

Yes / The use of methylmalonyl-CoA epimerase (MCEE) to improve stereoselectivity in crotonase-mediated biocatalysis is exemplified by the coupling of MCEE, crotonyl-CoA carboxylase reductase and carboxymethylproline synthase in a three-enzyme one-pot sequential synthesis of functionalised C-5 carboxyalkylprolines starting from crotonyl-CoA and carbon dioxide. / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, The Wellcome Trust, and CONACyT and FIDERH (Mexico, RGC) The Structural Genomics Consortium is a registered charity (number 1097737) that receives funds from AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, Genome Canada, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Lilly Canada, the Novartis Research Foundation, the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation, Pfizer, Takeda, and the Wellcome Trust (092809/Z/10/Z).

Yes / The crotonases comprise a widely distributed enzyme superfamily that has multiple roles in both primary and secondary metabolism. Many crotonases employ oxyanion hole-mediated stabilization of intermediates to catalyze the reaction of coenzyme A (CoA) thioester substrates (e.g., malonyl-CoA, α,β-unsaturated CoA esters) both with nucleophiles and, in the case of enolate intermediates, with varied electrophiles. Reactions of crotonases that proceed via a stabilized oxyanion intermediate include the hydrolysis of substrates including proteins, as well as hydration, isomerization, nucleophilic aromatic substitution, Claisen-type, and cofactor-independent oxidation reactions. The crotonases have a conserved fold formed from a central β-sheet core surrounded by α-helices, which typically oligomerizes to form a trimer or dimer of trimers. The presence of a common structural platform and mechanisms involving intermediates with diverse reactivity implies that crotonases have considerable potential for biocatalysis and synthetic biology, as supported by pioneering protein engineering studies on them. In this Perspective, we give an overview of crotonase diversity and structural biology and then illustrate the scope of crotonase catalysis and potential for biocatalysis. / Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust