title: The function of beta-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminyl monophosphorylundecaprenol in biosynthesis of lipoteichoic acids in a group of Bacillus strains.
abstract: Membrane preparations, obtained from Bacillus strains which have N-acetylglucosamine-linked lipoteichoic acids in their membranes, were shown to catalyze the transfer of N-[14C]acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) from beta-[14C]GlcNAc-P-undecaprenol to endogenous polymer. In this reaction, alpha-GlcNAc-P-undecaprenol or alpha-GlcNAc-PP-undecaprenol could not substitute for beta-GlcNAc-P-undecaprenol as the N-acetylglucosamine donor. This enzyme was most active at pH 6.0 and in the presence of 40 mM MgCl2. The apparent Km for beta-GlcNAc-P-undecaprenol was 2 microM. The radioactive polymer products, solubilized by hot phenol treatment, coincided with lipoteichoic acids in chromatographic behavior. Hydrogen fluoride treatment of the polymer products gave a major fragment identical with GlcNAc(alpha 1----2)glycerol, which corresponded to the dephosphorylated repeating units of the lipoteichoic acids in the examined strains. Thus it is concluded that beta-GlcNAc-P-undecaprenol serves as the donor of N-acetylglucosamine in the biosynthesis of lipoteichoic acids in a group of Bacillus strains.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shimada
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iwasaki
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ito
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000378:metabolism*; D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods; D006017:Glycolipids / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011103:Polyisoprenyl Phosphate Monosaccharides / Q000502:physiology*; D011105:Polyisoprenyl Phosphate Sugars / Q000502:physiology*; D013682:Teichoic Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D014537:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006017:Glycolipids; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D011103:Polyisoprenyl Phosphate Monosaccharides; D011105:Polyisoprenyl Phosphate Sugars; D013682:Teichoic Acids; D014537:Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylglucosamine; C009900:lipoteichoic acid; C021950:N-acetylglucosaminylphosphorylundecaprenol