The N -Acetylmannosamine Transferase Catalyzes the First Committed Step of Teichoic Acid Assembly in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus Journal Articles uri icon

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abstract

  • ABSTRACT There have been considerable strides made in the characterization of the dispensability of teichoic acid biosynthesis genes in recent years. A notable omission thus far has been an early gene in teichoic acid synthesis encoding the N -acetylmannosamine transferase ( tagA in Bacillus subtilis ; tarA in Staphylococcus aureus ), which adds N -acetylmannosamine to complete the synthesis of undecaprenol pyrophosphate-linked disaccharide. Here, we show that the N -acetylmannosamine transferases are dispensable for growth in vitro, making this biosynthetic enzyme the last dispensable gene in the pathway, suggesting that tagA (or tarA ) encodes the first committed step in wall teichoic acid synthesis.

authors

  • D'Elia, Michael A
  • Henderson, James A
  • Beveridge, Terry J
  • Heinrichs, David E
  • Brown, Eric

publication date

  • June 15, 2009