β-Phosphoglucomutase contributes to aciduricity in Streptococcus mutans.

ABSTRACT: Streptococcus mutans encounters an array of sugar moieties within the oral cavity due to a varied human diet. One such sugar is β-d-glucose 1-phosphate (βDG1P), which must be converted to glucose 6-phosphate (G6P) before further metabolism to lactic acid. The conversion of βDG1P to G6P is mediated by β-phosphoglucomutase, which has not been previously observed in any oral streptococci, but has been extensively characterized and the gene designated pgmB in Lactococcus lactis. An orthologue was identified in S. mutans, SMU.1747c, and deletion of the gene resulted in the inability of the deletion strain to convert βDG1P to G6P, indicating that SMU.1747c is a β-phosphoglucomutase and should be designated pgmB. In this study, we sought to characterize how deletion of pgmB affected known virulen

SUBMITTER: Buckley AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3973451 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature