A procedure for characterizing glucans synthesized by purified enzymes of cariogenic Streptococcus mutans.
Extracellular polysaccharide is a virulence factor of the most cariogenic bacteria, Streptococcus mutans. We describe a procedure for chemical analysis of this polysaccharide of S. mutans, using a well-known glucan synthesized by purified enzymes of cariogenic streptococci. Soluble and insoluble glucan from glucosyltransferase D and B respectively, were prepared and analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and methylation. Soluble alpha-glucan contained 60% of (1-->6)-linkages and 17% of branching while insoluble alpha-glucan was composed of 57% of (1-->3)- and 28% of (1-->6)-linkages with 8% branching. The described procedure could be important focusing future studies on in vivo biofilm.
Department of Physiological Sciences, Piracicaba Dental School, UNICAMP, CP 52, CEP 13414-903, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
C P
CP
Aires
H
H
Koo
G L
GL
Sassaki
M
M
Iacomini
J A
JA
Cury
D003731:Dental Caries / Q000382:microbiology*; D005936:Glucans / Q000032:analysis* / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000737:chemistry; D005964:Glucosyltransferases / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008745:Methylation; D012995:Solubility; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000201:enzymology*
D005936:Glucans; D005964:Glucosyltransferases