N-acetylquinovosamine (2-acetamido-2,6-di-deoxy-D-glucose, QuiNAc) is a relatively rare amino sugar residue found in glycans of few pathogenic gram-negative bacteria where it can play a role in infection. However, little is known about QuiNAc-related polysaccharides in gram-positive bacteria. In a routine screen for bacillus glycan grown at defined medium, it was surprising to identify a QuiNAc...

Leishmaniases are a set of tropical and sub-tropical diseases caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania whose severity ranges from self-healing cutaneous lesions to fatal visceral infections. Leishmania parasites synthesise a wide array of cell surface and secreted glycoconjugates that play important roles in infection. These glycoconjugates are particularly abundant in the promasti...

Abbreviations: aa, amino acid; AGPase, ADP-glc pyrophosphorylase; ara, arabinose; gal, galactose; galA, galacturonic acid; GALT, gal-1-P uridyltransferase; glc, glucose; glcA, glucuronic acid; man, mannose; PPi, pyrophosphate; SuSy, sucrose synthase; UAGPase, UDP-N-acetylglucosamine pyrophosphorylase; UGE, UDP-glc epimerase; UGPase, UDP-glc pyrophosphorylase; USPase, UDP-sugar pyrophosphorylase...

1. UDP-galactose utilization by isolated Golgi vesicles or rat mammary gland synthesizing lactose causes accumulation of UMP but not UDP, although UDP is the immediate product of lactose synthase (EC 2.4.1.22). 2. This can be ascribed to a nucleoside diphosphatase (EC 3.6.1.6), specific for UDP, GDP and IDP, activated by bivalent metal ions and apparently located on the luminal face of the Golg...

catalyzed by glycogen synthase D (UDP-glucose:glycogen o-4-glucosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.11) was studied, using r4C isotope transfer rates. The reaction rates were determined at varying concentrations of either substrate at constant amounts of the other substrate. The inhibition patterns of UDP as well as the activation patterns of the activator glucose 6-phosphate toward either substrate were ...

Structural analogues and mimics of the natural sugar-nucleotide UDP-galactose (UDP-Gal) are sought after as chemical tools for glycobiology and drug discovery. We have recently developed a novel class of galactosyltransferase (GalT) inhibitors derived from UDP-Gal, bearing an additional substituent at the 5-position of the uracil base. Herein we report the first C-glycosidic derivative of this ...

Bandeiraea simplicifolia I (BS I) isolectins, immobilized on Sepharose beads, specifically retarded low molecular weight ligands containing terminal cu-o-galactopyranosyl and 2acetamido-2-deoxy-a-D-galactopyranosyl residues. A BS I lectin-Sepharose column has been used to perform very efficient separations of structurally homologous sugar nucleotides and oligosaccharides. For example, UDP-gluco...

Cytoplasmic membrane fragments of Micrococcus luteus catalyze in vitro biosynthesis of teichuronic acid from uridine diphosphate D-glucose (UDP-glucose), uridine diphosphate N-acetyl-D-mannosaminuronic acid (UDP-ManNAcA), and uridine diphosphate N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Membrane fragments solubilized with Thesit (dodecyl alcohol polyoxyethylene ether) can utilize UDP-glucose and UDP-ManNAcA to e...

BACKGROUND Nucleotide sugars serve as sugar donors for the synthesis of various glycones. The biological and chemical properties of glycones can be altered depending which sugar is attached. Bacteria synthesize unusual nucleotide sugars. A novel nucleotide sugar can be synthesized in Escherichia coli by introducing nucleotide biosynthetic genes from other microorganisms into E. coli. The engine...