A number of genes encoding bacterial glycosyltransferases have been sequenced during the last few years, but their low sequence similarity has prevented a straightforward grouping of these enzymes into families. The sequences of several bacterial alpha-mannosyltransferases have been compared using current alignment algorithms as well as hydrophobic cluster analysis (HCA). These sequences show a...

Platelets are megakaryocyte subfragments that participate in hemostatic and host defense reactions and deliver proand antiangiogenic factors throughout the vascular system. Although they are anucleated cells that lack a complex secretory apparatus with distinct Golgi/ endoplasmic reticulum compartments, past studies have shown that platelets have glycosyltransferase activities. In the present s...

Cell surface lectin staining, examination of Golgi glycosyltransferases stability and localization, and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis were employed to investigate conserved oligomeric Golgi (COG)-dependent glycosylation defects in HeLa cells. Both Griffonia simplicifolia lectin-II and Galanthus nivalus lectins were specifically bound to the plas...

We have developed a genetic approach to isolate cloned cDNA sequences that determine expression of cell surface oligosaccharide structures and their cognate glycosyltransferases. A cDNA library was constructed in a mammalian expression vector by using mRNA from a murine cell line known to express a UDPgalactose:beta-D-galactosyl-1,4-N-acetyl-D-glucosaminide alpha-1,3-galactosyltransferase [(alp...

UNLABELLED Medicinal plants are extensively utilized in traditional and herbal medicines, both in India and around the world due to the presence of diverse low molecular weight natural products such as flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids and sterols. Flavonoids which have health benefits for humans are the large class of phenylpropanoid-derived secondary metabolites and are mostly glycosylated by...

Serine-rich repeat glycoproteins (SRRPs) are highly conserved in streptococci and staphylococci. Glycosylation of SRRPs is important for bacterial adhesion and pathogenesis. Streptococcus agalactiae is the leading cause of bacterial sepsis and meningitis among newborns. Srr2, an SRRP from S. agalactiae strain COH1, has been implicated in bacterial virulence. Four genes (gtfA, gtfB, gtfC, and gt...