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Glycobiology Advance Access originally published online on April 20, 2005
Glycobiology 2005 15(9):874-886; doi:10.1093/glycob/cwi066
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©The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org

Processive lipid galactosyl/glucosyltransferases from Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Mesorhizobium loti display multiple specificities

Georg Hölzl2, Martina Leipelt2, Claudia Ott2, Ulrich Zähringer3, Buko Lindner3, Dirk Warnecke1,2 and Ernst Heinz2

2 Biozentrum Klein Flottbek, University of Hamburg, Hamburg 22609, Germany; and 3 Department of Immunochemistry and Biochemical Microbiology, Research Center Borstel, Leibniz-Center for Medicine and Biosciences, Borstel 23845, Germany

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed; e-mail: warnecke{at}botanik.uni-hamburg.de

Received on March 11, 2005; revised on April 12, 2005; accepted on April 16, 2005

The glycosyltransferase family 21 (GT21) includes both enzymes of eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms. Many of the eukaryotic enzymes from animal, plant, and fungal origin have been characterized as uridine diphosphoglucose (UDP-Glc):ceramide glucosyltransferases (glucosylceramide synthases [Gcs], EC 2.4.1.80). As the acceptor molecule ceramide is not present in most bacteria, the enzymatic specificities and functions of the corresponding bacterial glycosyltransferases remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the homologous and heterologous expression of GT21 enzymes from Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Mesorhizobium loti in A. tumefaciens, Escherichia coli, and the yeast Pichia pastoris. Glycolipid analyses of the transgenic organisms revealed that the bacterial glycosyltransferases are involved in the synthesis of mono-, di- and even tri-glycosylated glycolipids. As products resulting from their activity, we identified 1,2-diacyl-3-(O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl)-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-(O-b-d-gluco-pyranosyl)-sn-glycerol as well as higher glycosylated lipids such as 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl-(1->6)-O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-b-d-gluco-pyranosyl-(1->6)-O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-b-d-gluco-pyranosyl-(1->6)-O-b-d-gluco-pyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, and the deviatingly linked diglycosyldiacylglycerol 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-b-d-gluco-pyranosyl-(1->3)-O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl]-sn-glycerol. From a mixture of triglycosyldiacylglycerols, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl-(1->6)-O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl-(1->6)-O-b-d-galacto-pyranosyl]-sn-glycerol could be separated in a pure form. In vitro enzyme assays showed that the glycosyltransferase from A. tumefaciens favours uridine diphosphogalactose (UDP-Gal) over UDP-Glc. In conclusion, the bacterial GT21 enzymes differ from the eukaryotic ceramide glucosyltransferases by the successive transfer of up to three galactosyl and glucosyl moieties to diacylglycerol.

Key words: galactosyl diacylglycerol / galactosyltransferase / GCS / glucosylceramide / glycosyltransferase family 21


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