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Glycobiology Advance Access published online on April 20, 2005
Glycobiology, 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
Received March 11, 2005
Revised April 12, 2005
Accepted April 16, 2005

Article

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

Georg Hölzl 1, Martina Leipelt 1, Ulrich Zähringer 2, Buko Lindner 2, Claudia Ott 1, Dirk Warnecke 1*, and Ernst Heinz 1

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

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Dirk Warnecke, E-mail: warnecke{at}botanik.uni-hamburg.de


  Abstract

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 UDP-glucose:ceramide glucosyltransferases (glucosylceramide synthases, 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 the present 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-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-(O-{beta}-D-glucopyranosyl)-sn-glycerol as well as higher glycosylated lipids such as 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl-(1->6)-O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-{beta}-D-glucopyranosyl-(1->6)-O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-{beta}-D-glucopyranosyl-(1->6)-O-{beta}-D-glucopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol, and the deviatingly linked diglycosyldiacylglycerol 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-{beta}-D-glucopyranosyl-(1->3)-O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol. From a mixture of triglycosyldiacylglycerols, 1,2-diacyl-3-[O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl-(1->6)-O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl-(1->6)-O-{beta}-D-galactopyranosyl]-sn-glycerol could be separated in a pure form. In vitro enzyme assays showed that the glycosyltransferase from A. tumefaciens favours UDP-galactose over UDP-glucose. 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.

Keywords: galactosyl diacylglycerol / galactosyltransferase / GCS / glucosylceramide / glycosyltransferase family 21.
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