Spindly is a nucleocytosolic O-fucosyltransferase in Dictyostelium and related proteins are widespread in protists and bacteria.

ABSTRACT: O-GlcNAcylation is a prominent modification of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins in animals and plants and is mediated by a single O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT). Spindly (Spy), a paralog of OGT first discovered in higher plants, has an ortholog in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and both enzymes are now recognized as O-fucosyltransferases (OFTs). Here we investigate the evolution of spy-like genes and experimentally confirm OFT activity in the social amoeba Dictyostelium-a protist that is more related to fungi and metazoa. Immunofluorescence probing with the fucose-specific Aleuria aurantia lectin (AAL) and biochemical cell fractionation combined with western blotting suggested the occurrence of nucleocytoplasmic fucosylation. The absence of reactivity in mutants deleted in spy or

SUBMITTER: van der Wel H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10114647 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature