Genetic organization of chromosomal S-layer glycan biosynthesis loci of Bacillaceae.

S-layer glycoproteins are cell surface glycoconjugates that have been identified in archaea and in bacteria. Usually, S-layer glycoproteins assemble into regular, crystalline arrays covering the entire bacterium. Our research focuses on thermophilic Bacillaceae, which are considered a suitable model system for studying bacterial glycosylation. During the past decade, investigations of S-layer glycoproteins dealt with the elucidation of the highly variable glycan structures by a combination of chemical degradation methods and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. It was only recently that the molecular characterization of the genes governing the formation of the S-layer glycoprotein glycan chains has been initiated. The S-layer glycosylation (slg) gene clusters of four of the 11 known S-layer glycan structures from members of the Bacillaceae have now been studied. The clusters are approximately 16 to approximately 25 kb in size and transcribed as polycistronic units. They include nucleotide sugar pathway genes that are arranged as operons, sugar transferase genes, glycan processing genes, and transporter genes. So far, the biochemical functions only of the genes required for nucleotide sugar biosynthesis have been demonstrated experimentally. The presence of insertion sequences and the decrease of the G + C content at the slg locus suggest that the investigated organisms have acquired their specific S-layer glycosylation potential by lateral gene transfer. In addition, S-layer protein glycosylation requires the participation of housekeeping genes that map outside the cluster. The gene encoding the respective S-layer target protein is transcribed monocistronically and independently of the slg cluster genes. Its chromosomal location is not necessarily in close vicinity to the slg gene cluster.

Biosynthesis of dTDP-3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-alpha-D-galactose in Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus L420-91T.

The glycan chain of the S-layer protein of Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus L420-91T (DSM 10154) consists of d-rhamnose and 3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-d-galactose (d-Fucp3NAc). Thymidine diphosphate-activated d-Fucp3NAc serves as precursor for the assembly of structural polysaccharides in Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. The biosynthesis of dTDP-3-acetamido-3,6-dideoxy-alpha-d-galactose (dTDP-d-Fucp3NAc) involves five enzymes. The first two steps of the reaction are catalyzed by enzymes that are part of the well studied dTDP-l-rhamnose biosynthetic pathway, namely d-glucose-1-phosphate thymidyltransferase (RmlA) and dTDP-d-glucose-4,6-dehydratase (RmlB). The enzymes catalyzing the last three synthesis reactions have not been characterized biochemically so far. These steps include an isomerase, a transaminase, and a transacetylase. We identified all five genes involved by chromosome walking in the Gram-positive organism A. thermoaerophilus L420-91T and overexpressed the three new enzymes heterologously in Escherichia coli. The activities of these enzymes were monitored by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography, and the intermediate products formed were characterized by 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis. Alignment of the newly identified proteins with known sequences revealed that the elucidated pathway in this Gram-positive organism may also be valid in the biosynthesis of the O-antigen of lipopolysaccharides of Gram-negative organisms. The key enzyme in the biosynthesis of dTDP-d-Fucp3NAc has been identified as an isomerase, which converts the 4-keto educt into the 3-keto product, with concomitant epimerization at C-4 to produce a 6-deoxy-d-xylo configuration. This is the first report of the functional characterization of the biosynthesis of dTDP-d-Fucp3NAc and description of a novel type of isomerase capable of synthesizing dTDP-6-deoxy-d-xylohex-3-ulose from dTDP-6-deoxy-d-xylohex-4-ulose.