Biosynthesis of mycobacterial methylmannose polysaccharides requires a unique 1-O-methyltransferase specific for 3-O-methylated mannosides.

ABSTRACT: Mycobacteria are a wide group of organisms that includes strict pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, as well as environmental species known as nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), some of which-namely Mycobacterium avium-are important opportunistic pathogens. In addition to a distinctive cell envelope mediating critical interactions with the host immune system and largely responsible for their formidable resistance to antimicrobials, mycobacteria synthesize rare intracellular polymethylated polysaccharides implicated in the modulation of fatty acid metabolism, thus critical players in cell envelope assembly. These are the 6-O-methylglucose lipopolysaccharides (MGLP) ubiquitously detected across the Mycobacterium genus, and the 3-O-methylmannose po

SUBMITTER: Ripoll-Rozada J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6338870 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature