KpsF is the arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase required for 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid biosynthesis and for both lipooligosaccharide assembly and capsular polysaccharide expression in Neisseria meningitidis.
We have identified and defined the function of kpsF of Neisseria meningitidis and the homologues of kpsF in encapsulated K1 and K5 Escherichia coli. KpsF was shown to be the arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase, an enzyme not previously identified in prokaryotes, that mediates the interconversion of ribulose 5-phosphate and arabinose 5-phosphate. KpsF is required for 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo) biosynthesis in N. meningitidis. Mutation of kpsF or the gene encoding the CMP-Kdo synthetase (kpsU/kdsB) in N. meningitidis resulted in expression of a lipooligosaccharide (LOS) structure that contained only lipid A and reduced capsule expression in the five invasive disease-associated meningococcal serogroups (A, B, C, Y, and W-135). The step linking meningococcal capsule and LOS biosynthesis was shown to be Kdo production as the expression of capsule was wild type in a Kdo transferase (kdtA) mutant. Thus, in addition to lipooligosaccharide assembly, Kdo is required for meningococcal capsular polysaccharide expression. Furthermore, N. meningitidis, unlike enteric Gram-negative bacteria, can survive and synthesize only unglycosylated lipid A.
Tzeng
Yih-Ling
YL
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia 30033, USA.
Datta
Anup
A
Strole
Christy
C
Kolli
V S Kumar
VS
Birck
Matthew R
MR
Taylor
William P
WP
Carlson
Russell W
RW
Woodard
Ronald W
RW
Stephens
David S
DS
D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D010957:Plasmids; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000378:metabolism*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C102536:KpsF protein, E coli; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D013400:Sugar Acids; C023023:lipid-linked oligosaccharides; C002532:2-keto-3-deoxyoctonate; D019747:Aldose-Ketose Isomerases; C041486:arabinose-5-phosphate isomerase