Protein O-glucosylation in Lactobacillus buchneri

Julia Anzengruber, Martin Pabst, Laura Neumann, Gerhard Sekot, Stefan Heinl, Reingard Grabherr, Friedrich Altmann, Paul Messner, Christina Schäffer*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Based on the previous demonstration of surface (S-) layer protein glycosylation in Lactobacillus buchneri 41021/251 and because of general advantages of lactic acid bacteria for applied research, protein glycosylation in this bacterial species was investigated in detail. The cell surface of L. buchneri CD034 is completely covered with an oblique 2D crystalline array (lattice parameters, a = 5.9 nm; b = 6.2 nm; γ ∼77) formed by self-assembly of the S-layer protein SlpB. Biochemical and mass spectrometric analyses revealed that SlpB is the most abundant protein and that it is O-glycosylated at four serine residues within the sequence S152-A- S154-S155-A-S157 with, on average, seven Glc(α1-6) residues, each. Subcellular fractionation of strain CD034 indicated a sequential order of SlpB export and glucosylation as evidenced by lack of glucosylation of cytosolic SlpB. Protein glycosylation analysis was extended to strain L. buchneri NRRL B-30929 where an analogous glucosylation scenario could be detected, with the S-layer glycoprotein SlpN containing an O-glycosylation motif identical to that of SlpB. This corroborates previous data on S-layer protein glucosylation of strain 41021/251 and let us propose a species-wide S-layer protein O-glucosylation in L. buchneri targeted at the sequence motif S-A-S-S-A-S. Search of the L. buchneri genomes for the said glucosylation motif revealed one further ORF, encoding the putative glycosylâ€hydrolase LbGH25B and LbGH25N in L. buchneri CD034 and NRRL B-30929, respectively, for which we have indications of a glycosylation comparable to that of the S-layer proteins. These findings demonstrate the presence of a distinct protein O-glucosylation system in Gram-positive and beneficial microbes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)117-131
JournalGlycoconjugate Journal
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Glycobiology
  • Glycosyl†hydrolase
  • Lactic acid bacteria
  • O-glycosylation motif
  • S-layer

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Protein O-glucosylation in Lactobacillus buchneri'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this