Comprehensive mutational analysis of sucrose-metabolizing pathways in Streptococcus mutans reveals novel roles for the sucrose phosphotransferase system permease.

ABSTRACT: Sucrose is perhaps the most efficient carbohydrate for the promotion of dental caries in humans, and the primary caries pathogen Streptococcus mutans encodes multiple enzymes involved in the metabolism of this disaccharide. Here, we engineered a series of mutants lacking individual or combinations of sucrolytic pathways to understand the control of sucrose catabolism and to determine whether as-yet-undisclosed pathways for sucrose utilization were present in S. mutans. Growth phenotypes indicated that gtfBCD (encoding glucan exopolysaccharide synthases), ftf (encoding the fructan exopolysaccharide synthase), and the scrAB pathway (sugar-phosphotransferase system [PTS] permease and sucrose-6-PO(4) hydrolase) constitute the majority of the sucrose-catabolizing activity; however, mutations in

SUBMITTER: Zeng L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3562097 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature