Description
Requires thiamine diphosphate. The enzyme, characterized from the bacterium Serratia marcescens, participates in the biosynthesis of the antibiotic prodigiosin. The enzyme decarboxylates pyruvate, followed by attack of the resulting two-carbon fragment on (E)-oct-2-enal, resulting in a Stetter reaction. In vitro the enzyme can act on a number of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, including aldehydes and ketones, and can catalyse both 1-2 and 1-4 carboligations depending on the substrate.