Streptococcus mutans gtfA gene specifies sucrose phosphorylase

Abstract

The ethanol-insoluble product formed from sucrose by purified enzyme encoded by the gtfA gene from Streptococcus mutans, expressed in recombinant Escherichia coli, was analyzed by 13C and 31P nuclear magnetic resonance. The product was identified as alpha-D-glucose-1-phosphate, and it was concluded that the GTF-A enzyme is sucrose phosphorylase (sucrose:orthophosphate alpha-D-glucosyltransferase [EC 2.4.1.7]).