Genes and proteins involved in the biosynthesis of lipopeptides by microorganisms, in particular the nucleic acids forming the biosynthetic locus for the A54145 lipopeptide from Streptomyces fradiae and the A54145-like lipopeptide from Streptomyces refuineus. These nucleic acids can be used to make expression constructs and transformed host cells for the production of lipopeptides. The genes and proteins allow direct manipulation of lipopeptides and related chemical structures via chemical engineering of the proteins involved in the biosynthesis of A54145.