The glucose isomerase gene (xylA) from the Streptomyces sp. SK strain encodes a 386-amino-acid protein (42.7 kDa) showing extensive identities with many other bacterial glucose isomerases. We have shown by gel filtration chromatography and SDS-PAGE analysis that the purified recombinant glucose isomerase (SKGI) is a 180 kDa tetramer of four 43 kDa subunits. Sequence inspection revealed that this protein, present some special characteristics like the abundance of hydrophobic residues and some original amino-acid substitutions, which distinguish SKGI from the other GIs previously reported. The presence of an Ala residue at position 103 in SKGI is especially remarkable, since the same amino-acid was found at the equivalent position in the extremely thermostable GIs from Thermus thermophilus and Thermotoga neapolitana; whereas a Gly was found in the majority of less thermostable GIs from Streptomyces. The Ala103Gly mutation, introduced in SKGI, significantly decreases the half-life time at 90 degrees C from 80 to 50 min and also shifts the optimum pH from 6.5 to 7.5. This confirms the implication of the Ala103 residue on SKGI thermostability and activity at low pH. A homology model of SKGI based on the SOGI (that of Streptomyces olivochromogenes) crystal structure has been constructed in order to understand the mutational effects on a molecular scale. Hence, the Ala103Gly mutation, affecting enzyme properties, is presumed to increase molecular flexibility and to destabilize, in particular at elevated temperature, the 91-109 loop that includes the important catalytic residue, Phe94.