1,6-Anhydro-N-acetylmuramic acid kinase (AnmK) is the unique enzyme that marks the recycling of the cell wall of Escherichia coli. Here, 81 fungal AnmK-like kinase sequences from 57 fungal species were searched in the NCBI database and a phylogenetic tree was constructed. The three-dimensional structure of an AnmK-like kinase, levoglucosan kinase (LGK) of the yeast Lipomyces starkeyi, was modeled; molecular docking revealed that AnmK and LGK are conserved proteins, and 187Asp, 212Asp are enzymatic residues, respectively. Analysis suggests that 1,6-anhydro-N-acetylglucosamine (anhGlcNAc) and/or 1,6-anhydro-β-d-glucosamine (anhGlcN) would be the appropriate substrates of AnmK-like kinases. Also, the counterparts of other characteristic enzymes of cell wall recycling of bacteria were found in fungi. Taken together, it is proposed that a putative recycling of anhGlcNAc/anhGlcN, which is associated with the hydrolysis of cell walls, exists in fungi. This computational analysis will provide new insights into the metabolism of fungal cell walls.
Keywords: Cell wall; Chitin; Homology modeling; Molecular docking; Peptidoglycan.
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