title: Identification and functional characterization of levS, a gene encoding for a levansucrase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-512 F.
abstract: A Leuconostoc mesenteroides NRRL B-512 F levansucrase gene, (levS), was isolated, sequenced and cloned in Escherichia coli. The recombinant enzyme was shown to be a fructosyltransferase producing a polymer identified by (13)C-NMR as levan. Based on sequence analysis, we found that this levansucrase is a mosaic protein, bearing structural features of glucosyltransferases in the amino and carboxy terminal regions similarly to inulosucrase from Leuconostoc citreum. The phylogenetic analysis of the C-terminal region domain of levansucrases from L. mesenteroides demonstrates that they group together into a novel putative sub-family of genes and evolved long before all other glucosyltransferases, while their catalytic domain structure is species related.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ingeniería Celular y Biocatálisis, Instituto de Biotecnología, UNAM, Avenida Universidad 2001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos 62250, México.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morales-Arrieta
authors.forename: Maria Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Segovia
authors.forename: Agustín
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: López-Munguía
authors.forename: Clarita
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Olvera-Carranza
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli; D015870:Gene Expression; D006602:Hexosyltransferases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D007934:Leuconostoc / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D006602:Hexosyltransferases; C021513:levansucrase