Sulfotransferases and sulfatases in mycobacteria

Chem Biol. 2002 Jul;9(7):767-76. doi: 10.1016/s1074-5521(02)00175-8.

Abstract

Analysis of the genomes of M. tuberculosis, M. leprae, M. smegmatis, and M. avium has revealed a large family of genes homologous to known sulfotransferases. Despite reports detailing a suite of sulfated glycolipids in many mycobacteria, a corresponding family of sulfotransferase genes remains uncharacterized. Here, a sequence-based analysis of newly discovered mycobacterial sulfotransferase genes, named stf1-stf10, is presented. Interestingly, two sulfotransferase genes are highly similar to mammalian sulfotransferases, increasing the list of mycobacterial eukaryotic-like protein families. The sulfotransferases join an equally complex family of mycobacterial sulfatases: a large family of sulfatase genes has been found in all of the mycobacterial genomes examined. As sulfated molecules are common mediators of cell-cell interactions, the sulfotransferases and sulfatases may be involved in regulating host-pathogen interactions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mycobacterium / enzymology*
  • Mycobacterium / genetics*
  • Phylogeny
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Sulfatases / genetics*
  • Sulfatases / metabolism
  • Sulfates / chemistry
  • Sulfates / metabolism
  • Sulfotransferases / genetics*
  • Sulfotransferases / metabolism

Substances

  • Sulfates
  • Sulfotransferases
  • Sulfatases