Structure and function of the D-galactose network in enterobacteria.
mBio
; 2(4): e00053-11, 2011.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-21712421
ABSTRACT
Galactose is important for the survival and virulence of bacteria. In Escherichia coli, galactose is utilized by the Leloir pathway, which is controlled by a complex network. To shed light on the potential functions the galactose network could perform, we performed bioinformatical analysis of reference genome sequences belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. We found that several genomes have reduced numbers of components compared to the E. coli galactose system, suggesting that the network can be optimized for different environments. Typically, genes are removed by deletions; however, in Yersinia pestis, the galactose mutarotase (galM) gene is inactivated by a single-base-pair deletion. Lack of GalM activity indicates that the two anomers of D-galactose are used for different purposes, α-D-galactose as a carbon source and ß-D-galactose for induction of UDP-galactose synthesis for biosynthetic glycosylation. We demonstrate that activity of the galM gene can be restored by different single-base-pair insertions. During the evolution of Y. pestis to become a vector-transmitted systemic pathogen, many genes were converted to pseudogenes. It is not clear whether pseudogenes are present to maintain meiotrophism or are in the process of elimination. Our results suggest that the galM pseudogene has not been deleted because its reactivation may be beneficial in certain environments.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Contexto em Saúde:
3_ND
/
4_TD
Problema de saúde:
3_neglected_diseases
/
3_zoonosis
/
4_plague
Assunto principal:
Enterobacteriaceae
/
Redes e Vias Metabólicas
/
Galactose
Idioma:
En
Revista:
MBio
Ano de publicação:
2011
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos