ACYLTRANSFERASE AND GENE ENCODING ACYLTRANSFERASE

Abstract: Essentially pure acyltransferase is provided which is functional to catalyze reaction to form sugar esters. Also provided is isolated gene encoding acyltransferase. Additionally provided is a method for forming palmityl esters of glucose comprising reacting 1-O-palmitoyl- beta -D-glucose with itself, with glucose or with palmityl partial ester of glucose in the presence of a catalytically effective amount of acyltransferase.

Description: ACYLTRANSFERASEANDGENEENCODINGACYLTRANSFERASE This invention is made in part with Government support under U.S. Department of Agriculture Grants 90-37153-5438 and 91-37300-6566 The Government has certain rights in the invention. Cross-Reference to Related Application This is a continuation-in-part of Serial No. 60/008,948, filed December 20, 1995. Technical Field This invention is directed to isolation of acyltransferase for use in preparing sugar polyesters and to gene encoding acyltransferase for use in preparing sugar polyesters. Background of the Invention Sugar polyesters are a diverse class of molecules including, but not limited to, glucose and sucrose esters of fatty acids and other carboxylic acids. Partial acylation of the available hydroxyls in the sugar moiety provides feeding deterrent (pest repellent) properties (for use in agriculture), emulsification properties (for use in the food and cosmetic industries) and emollient properties (for use in the cosmetic industry). Six to eight fatty acids esterified to the eight available sucrose hydroxyls provides noncaloric fat substitute. At present, the sugar polyesters are made through techniques of synthetic organic chemistry. Summary of the Invention The present invention is based on isolation of an acyltransferase from a plant which catalyzes esterification reactions providing sugar esters and sugar polyesters. In a first embodiment, the instant invention is directed to an essentially pure acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8 and to an essentially pure acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8 and also the sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NOS: 5 and 6. Based on isolation of the acyltransferase, genes have been isolated which code for acyltransferase. These isolated genes are useful for preparing transgenic yeast or transgenic E. coli for use in manufacturing acyltransferase or for use in preparing transgenic plants transformed to contain gene coding for acyltransferase which produce sugar polyesters and which may be harvested to recover sugar polyesters. In a second embodiment, the instant invention is directed to an isolated gene encoding an acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 9. In a third embodiment, the instant invention is directed to a method of preparing palmitoyl esters of glucose which comprises reacting 1-0-palmitoyl-β-D- glucose with glucose or with palmitoyl partial ester of glucose in the presence of acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8 or which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO. 8 and also the sequences set forth the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NOS: 5 and 6. The term "essentially pure" is used herein to mean meeting the criterion of purified to be free of contaminating protein, i.e., a single protein band or a plurality of protein bands representing different levels of glycosylation of the same protein or a plurality of protein bands representing a protein and subunit or subunits thereof, on a sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel submitted to electrophoresis under reducing, or fully denaturing, conditions and stained with Ponceau stain and/or meeting the criterion of having a specific activity of at least 35 nanokatals mg ' Detailed Description Acyltransferase herein is coded for by gene of the genome of and is isolated and derived from the wild tomato species Lycopersicon pennelli (LA716), which is available from the Tomato Genetics Resource Center. To purify this enzyme, leaf extract is prepared from leaves of L. pennelli (LA716) as described in Example I herein and the enzyme is obtained from the leaf extract and is purified therefrom in a succession of five purification steps The first step in the purification is an ammonium sulfate precipitation step in which protein is precipitated by addition of solid ammonium sulfate, i.e., (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 Ammonium sulfate is added to the extract to 80% of saturation This is followed by centrifugation. The supernatant is retained and dialyzed The second step in the purification is a polyethylene glycol precipitation step Polyethylene glycol is added to provide 0.15 g/ml. This is followed by centrifugation After discarding of the pellet, polyethylene glycol is added again to a final concentration of 0 22 g/ml at which point protein precipitates and is collected by centrifugation The third step in the purification involves ion exchange on DEAE (diethylaminoethoxy ion exchange moiety) sepharose. A suspension of protein from the second purification step is passed through a column containing DEAE sepharose and then elution is carried out using 0-250 millimolar KC1 gradient. The active fractions are pooled and concentrated by ultrafiltration. The fourth step in the purification involves performing affinity chromatography on the concentrated active fractions from the third purification step in a column containing Concanavalin A (a protein which binds sugars, sometimes referred to as ConA). Proteins which are glycosylated bind, and since the acyltransferase being isolated is glycosylated, it binds. This fourth purification step involves washing with Tris-KOH (pH 7.5) plus 10% glycerol as loading buffer and then eluting first with the Tris buffer and 10% glycerol plus 50mM α-methylglycoside to displace previously bound irrelevant protein and then eluting with the Tris buffer and 10% glycerol plus 100 mM α-methylglycoside to elute the enzyme of interest. The active fractions are pooled and concentrated by ultrafiltration. The fifth step in the purification involves performing HPLC on the concentrated active fractions from the fourth purification step on a chromatofocusing column under a pH gradient of 4-6. Again the active fractions are pooled and concentrated by ultrafiltration. Assays for enzyme activity are readily carried out by measuring the disproportionation of l-O-β-[ 14 C-isobutyryl]glucose to form l-O-β-[ 14 C-isobutyryl]- di-O-[ 14 C-isobutyryl]-glucose, l-O-β-[ 14 C-isobutyryI]-tri-O-[ ,4 C-isobutyryl]-glucose, i.e., the transfer of the [ 14 C]isobutyryl group from l-O-β-[ ,4 C-isobutyryl]glucose to other l-0-β-[ l4 C-isobutyryl]glucose, in the presence of sample for which enzyme activity is being determined. A preferred assay involving measuring acyl transfer is described in Example I hereinafter. Assays for enzyme activity can also be carried out by measuring the anomeric transfer of isobutyryl from 1-O-isobutyryl-β-D-glucose to [U- 14 C]-glucose. A preferred assay involving measuring anomeric transfer is as follows. The assay is performed in a total volume of 15 μL which contains 50 mM Hepes pH 7.5, 10 mM dithiothreitol, 2 mM 1-O-isobutyryl-β-D-glucose, 40 μM [U-' 4 C]-glucose (2 x 10 5 cpm) and 1 to 100 ng acyltransferase. The reaction is allowed to proceed at 37θC for 30 minutes, and then loaded onto a silica gel thin-layer chromatography plate and eluted in chloroform/methanol/water (75:22:3). The thin layer plate is then dried, exposed to autoradiographic film, and upon development of the autoradiographic image, the silica gel at regions corresponding to the migration of di-, tri-, and tetra- [ 14 C-isobutyryl]-glucose is scraped from the plate, eluted with methanol and radioactively quantified by liquid scintillation. The purification of the enzyme is described in detail in Example I hereinafter An acyltransferase enzyme purified by the above method was found to consist of two subunits of molecular mass 33 kDa and 22 kDa by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after the enzyme was prepared under reducing conditions on comparison to migration of proteins of known molecular weight, and to have a native molecular weight of 100,000 kDa on a gel permeation column, and an isoelectric point as determined by isoelectric focusing on a 5% polyacrylamide native gel with a 3.5 to 9 pH gradient, of 5.2. Seven peptide fractions obtained from the acyltransferase by treatment with trypsin and separation of the resulting peptides by reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) were determined to have the sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NOS: 1-7. A sequence of portion of the acyltransferase consistent with the sequence of isolated gene obtained based on the seven peptide fractions is set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8. The acyltransferase is functional to catalyze anomeric transfer of the acyl substituent from 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose to glucose, 2-deoxyglucose, 3-O-methyl glucose or partially acylated glucose and to catalyze disproportionation between two molecules of 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose resulting in formation of diacylglucose and glucose. The acyl substituent including that in the partially acylated glucose can contain, for example, from 1 to 18 carbon atoms and can be branched or straight chain and saturated or unsaturated and can be, for example, isobutanoyl or lauroyl or palmitoyl. Reaction with 1 -O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose is considered unexpected since this reaction has not been found in nature. The reaction involving anomeric transfer of acyl from 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose to glucose, 2-deoxyglucose, 3-O-methyl glucose or partially acylated glucose is readily carried out using a stoichiometric amount of 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose in buffer or aqueous media at pH ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 at 20 to 40O C for 10 to 60 minutes in the presence of a catalytically effective amount, e.g., 0 01 to 1 μg of purified acyltransferase per mmol 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose. The reaction involving disproportionation is readily carried out in buffer or aqueous media at pH ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 at 20 to 40° C for 10 to 60 minutes in the presence of a catalytically effective amount, e.g., 0.01 to 1 μg of purified acyltransferase per mmol 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose. The 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose starting material can be prepared, for example, by condensing α-acetobromoglucose and isobutyric acid followed by deacetylation with sunflower esterase. Alternatively, the 1-O-acyl-β-D-glucose can be prepared by reacting acyl chloride with tetrabenzylglucose in dry benzene at 62θC and deprotecting according to the procedure of Pfeffer, P E , et al , J Org Chem 41, 2925-2927 (1976). We turn now to the isolation of gene coding for the acyltransferase Detached trichomes are prepared from L. pennelli leaves by the dry ice abrasion method as described in Yerger, E.H., et al., Plant Physiol 99, 1-7 (1992). The trichomes are suspended in buffer, total RNA extracted and mRNA purified according to the method described in Hunt, M. D., et al, Plant Molec. Biol. 21, 59-68 (1993). The acyltransferase gene is cloned following procedures described by Frohman, M. A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:8998-9002 (1988), and Loh, E. Y., et al., Science 243:217-220 (1980). Gene fragment consisting of an internal portion of the gene coding for the acyltransferase is obtained as follows from the total purified mRNA. Total purified mRNA is reversed transcribed into cDNA using oligo (dT) I5 and reverse transcriptase. Aliquot of resulting mixture is then used for polymerase chain reaction in a reaction mixture containing a primer mix corresponding to the least degenerate two of the aforementioned seven peptide fragments and Taq polymerase. The polymerase chain reaction products are analyzed by agarose gel elect rophoresis and the major amplification product is excised from the gel, eluted and purified and ligated into PCRII vector for sequencing and the sequence is determined. A gene fragment including the 5_ end of the gene is then obtained as follows from the total purified mRNA. Aliquot of mixture resulting from reverse transcription of total purified mRNA is primed with a gene-specific primer (based on a portion of the sequence determined for the 5_ end of middle fragment). The resulting cDNA is dC-tailed at the 5_ end and the 5_ end is amplified by polymerase chain reaction using a nested primer having sequence based on another portion of the sequence determined for the 5_ end of middle fragment and an anchor primer and the major amplification product is excised and recovered as described above and cloned into pAMPl for sequencing and the sequence of the 5_ end is determined. Next a gene fragment including the 3_ end of the gene is obtained as follows from the total purified mRNA. Aliquot of resulting mixture from reverse transcription of total purified mRNA is amplified using polymerase chain reaction using a gene specific primer (based on a portion of the sequence determined for the 3_ end of middle fragment) and a second round of polymerase chain reaction using a nested primer is used to provide enrichment of 3_ end cDNA fragment The polymerase chain reaction product representing the 3_ end of the cDNA is cloned into pAMPl vector for sequencing and is sequenced. Having cloned and sequenced the 5_ and 3_ ends of the cDNA, primers are synthesized corresponding to these ends and also incorporating BamHI and EcoRI restriction sites and these are used to amplify the entire gene sequence following the procedures described above The gene is then cloned into the E. coli vector pBluescript which has been prepared with BamHI and EcoRI and transformed into XL 1 -blue cells for sequencing and sequencing provides the sequence of the entire gene. A detailed description of the isolation and identification of gene coding for acyltransferase from L. pennelli (LA716) is set forth in Example II hereinafter Sequencing of the gene provided the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 9. The amino acid sequence corresponding to base pairs 1 -54 of the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ LD NO: 9 constitutes a signal peptide. Thus, the peptide of SEQ LD NO 1 is the fragment at the N-terminus of the enzyme. The nucleic acid sequence of SEQ LD NO: 9 indicates a discrepancy in portion corresponding to the peptide fragment of SEQ LD NO: 4 in that it indicates that the amino acid for position number 3 of the sequence of SEQ LD NO: 4 is Phe instead of He. Furthermore, the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ LD NO: 9 indicates a discrepancy in portion corresponding to the peptide fragment of SEQ LD NO: 7 in that it indicates that the amino acid for the position number 14 in SEQ LD NO: 7 is Cys instead of Leu The nucleic acid sequence of SEQ LD NO: 9 after the signal peptide corresponding to base pairs 1-54 is accounted for, indicates that the acyltransferase coded for by the remainder of the base pairs should contain 446 amino acids and have a molecular mass of about 49 kDa and have the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO. 10. This indicates that the acyltransferase herein is encoded by a small gene family and that the gene that was isolated was slightly different from the gene encoding the acyltransferase that was isolated. The difference between the molecular mass determined by sodium dodecylsulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (subunit molecular masses of 33 kDa and 22 kDa for a total of 55 kDa) and that predicted for the mature protein from the sequence of the isolated gene (49 kDa) is not an unusual observation and is not of concern. The protein is glycosylated and this may result in electrophoretic behavior inconsistent with the mass of the polypeptide Also a skewed amino acid composition of a small fragment (≤20 kDa) may result in anomalous migration on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The isolated gene is transferred into yeast by inserting the entire acyltransferase cDNA sequence into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression vector pYES2, to generate a plasmid pYAGT2 and transforming pYAGT2 into S. cerevisiae; expression is achieved by induction with galactose. A suitable procedure is described in more detail in Example III. The isolated gene is transferred into E. coli (e.g., E. coli XL-Blue supplied by Stratagene) by cloning into pBluescript and transforming the resulting plasmid into E. coli via electroporation; expression is achieved by induction of the lac promoter using X-Gal (supplied by Stratagene) according to supplier's instructions The isolated gene is used to transform a plant, e g , a tobacco plant, by the procedures described in Fraley, R F , et al , CRC Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 4 1-86 (1986) The embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the following working examples: EXAMPLE I Isolation and characterization of acyltransferase from L. pennelli (LA7141 L. pennelli (LA714) seeds were obtained from Tomato Genetics Resource Center, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California, Davis, CA 95616- 8746, and were grown in the greenhouse The "LA" designation is the Lycopersican accession number which refers to where the original seed was collected, in this case, the Pacific face of the southern Peruvian Andes. The following procedure was used to obtain leaf extracts 200g of frozen leaves and stem tissue was homogenized in 500ml of 50mm Hepes^NaOH, pH 7.0/250mM sucrose (functions to stabilize protein)/! OmM dithiothreitol(inhibits oxidative browning of extract)/l% (w/v) acid-washed polyvinyl pyrrolidone (binds phenolics)/0.1% (w/v) diethyldithiocarbamate (inhibits polyphenol oxidases) The homogenate was centrifuged at 15,000 x g for 20 minutes to remove debris The supernatant was adjusted to 80% saturation with solid (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 and, after 30 minutes on ice, was centrifuged at 20,000 x g for 30 min The pellet was suspended in 10 ml of 50mM Hepes'NaOH, pH 7.0/1 mM dithiothreitol/0 5mM phenylmethylsulfonyifluoride (inhibits protease activity)/ 10% (vol/vol) glycerol (functions to stabilize protein) and dialyzed against the same buffer The specific activity of acyltransferase at this stage was 7 2 x 10 '3 nkatal/mg The dialyzed extract was then precipitated using 0 15 to 0.22 g/ml solid polyethylene glycol (mol. wt. 3,350) The pellet resulting after centrifugation at 20,000 x g for 30 min. was resuspended in 50 mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7 0, ImM dithiothreitol, 0.5 mM phenylmethylsulfonyifluoride, 10% (v/v) glycerol This resulted in a 5-fold purification of the acyltransferase activity, i e., to a specific activity of 3.7 x 10 '2 nkatal/mg. This preparation was loaded on a DEAE-Sepharose column equilibrated in the same buffer, washed with ten column volumes of buffer, and eluted with a 0 to 250 mM KC1 gradient Acyltransferase activity of each fraction was monitored by enzymatic activity, and the most active fractions, which eluted around 150 mM KC1, were pooled and concentrated by ultrafiltration, yielding a 23-fold purification, i.e , to a specific activity of 0 17 nkatal/mg The sample was then loaded on a ConA column, and washed with ten volumes of loading buffer The column was then washed with a 50 mL portion of loading buffer brought to 50 mM α -methyl glucoside. The acyltransferase activity was then eluted with 100 mM α- methyl glucoside The sample was then dialyzed against 50 mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7 0 and 10% (v/v) glycerol and concentrated by ultrafiltration, resulting in a 1, 274- fold purification of acyltransferase activity, i.e., to a specific activity of 9.4 nkatal/mg This preparation was then loaded on a Mono P high pressure liquid chromatography chromatofocusing column, from which it eluted at a pH of 4.8, resulting in a 5000- fold overall purification, i.e., to a specific activity of 36 nkatal/mg. The acyltransferase enzyme product was determined to consist of two subunits of molecular mass 33 kDa and 22 kDa by sodium dodecyi sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis after the enzyme was prepared under reducing conditions on comparison to migration of proteins of known molecular weight The standard proteins used to obtain this data were obtained from Sigma Chemical Co and have molecular weights ranging from 66 to 14.3 These standard proteins and their molecular weights are bovine serum albumin (66 kDa), ovalbumin (45 kDa), glyceraldehyde-3 -phosphate dehydrogenase (36 kDa), carbonic anhydrase (29 kDa), trypsinogen (24 kDa), trypsin inhibitor (20 kDa), and α-lactalbumin (14 3 kDa) Molecular weight of the native enzyme was determined using Sephadex G100 column eluted with 50 mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7.0 and 10% (v/v) glycerol Molecular weight markers consisted of aprotinin (6 5 kDa), cytochrome c (12 4 kDa), carbonic anhydrase (29.0 kDa), serum albumin (66.0 kDa), and alcohol dehydrogenase (150 kDa). Under these conditions the acyltransferase exhibited a relative molecular mass of 100 kDa. The isoelectric point of the enzyme was determined by electrofocusing on a 5% polyacrylamide native gel with a 3.5 to 9 pH gradient When electrofocusing was complete, the gel was sliced horizontally into 2 mM bands each of which was suspended in H 2 O. The pH of these suspensions was measured directly and an aliquot of each tested for acyltransferase activity The enzyme was shown to possess a pi of 5.2 under these conditions. The 5000-fold purified acyltransferase was loaded on SDS-PAGE and electroblotted onto a poly (vinylidene difluoride) membrane following the art described by Matsudaira (Methods in Enzymology 182 602-613 (1990) The membrane was stained with Ponceau stain and the band containing the enzyme excised and destained in methanol, and resuspended in H 2 O The destained membrane was treated with trypsin and the resulting proteolytic products separated by high pressure liquid chromatography using a gradient from 0 1% aqueous trifiuoroacetic acid to 100% acetonitrile, 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid. Seven of the resulting polypeptides were sufficiently homogeneous to sequence using automated Edman degradation procedures, and were determined respectively to have the sequences of SEQ LD NOS: 1-7. The assays for enzyme activity in the purification steps were carried out by measuring the disproportionation of l-O-β-[' 4 C-isobutyryl]glucose to di-, tri-, and tetra-isobutyryl glucose, i.e., the transfer of the [ l4 C]isobutyryl group from 1-O-β- [ 14 C-isobutyryl]glucose to other l-O-β-[ ,4 C-isobutyryl]glucose, in the presence of sample for which enzyme activity was being determined. Disproportionation activity was measured by intermolecular transfer of the [ ,4 C-isobutyryl] moiety from donor l-O-β-[ ,4 C-isobutyryl]-β-D-glucoses to recipient l-O-β-[ 14 C-isobutyryl]-β-D-glucoses, resulting in formation of higher-order glucose esters of isobutyrate. Reactions were performed in a total volume of 15 μL which contained 50 mM Hepes, pH 7.5, lOmM dithiothreitol, 1 mM l-O-fC-isobutyrylj-β- D-glucose (10 s cpm), and 1 to 100 ng acyltransferase. The reaction was allowed to proceed at 37θC for 30 min., and then loaded onto a silica gel thin-layer chromatography plate and eluted in chloroform/methanol/water (75:22:3). The thin- layer plate was then dried, exposed to autoradiographic film, and upon development of the autoradiographic image, the silica gel at regions corresponding to the point of migration of di-, tri-, and tetra-[ ,4 C-isobutyryl]-glucose was scraped from the plate, eluted with methanol, and radioactivity quantified by liquid scintillation. The purified enzyme was tested for activity against the carboxypeptidase substrates carbobenzoxy-phe-ala, carbobenzoxy phe-leu, carbobenzoxy-gly-phe and carbobenzoxy-pro-phe. No activity was detected against any of these substrates. EXAMPLE II Isolation of Gene Coding for Acyltransferase from L. pennelli (LA716ι Detached trichomes were obtained from leaves of L. pennelli (LA716) by dry ice abrasion as described in Yerger, E.H., et al., Plant Physiol 99, 1-7 (1992) except that pulverized dry ice was first sieved through a fiberglass screen (1.4mm 2 mesh) The trichomes were suspended in freshly prepared pH 7.0 (buffer)/ lmM MgCl 2 (stabilizer of protein structure and enzymatic activity )/0.1% diethyldithiocarbamate (acts as copper chelator to inhibit polyphenol oxidase)/0.1% dithiothreitol (acts as copper chelator to inhibit polyphenol oxidase and as scavenger of quinones, the reaction product of polyphenol oxidase)/2% polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (inhibitor of polyphenol oxidase, acts as scavenger of phenolics, the substrates for polyphenol oxidase) Total RNA was extracted from the trichomic suspension and mRNA was purified according to the method described in Hunt, M D , et al , Plant Molec Biol 21, 59-68 (1993) The acyltransferase gene was cloned following procedures described by Frohman, M A., et al , Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 85 8998-9002 (1988), and Loh, E Y , et al., Science 243:217-220 (1980). Sequence of an internal fragment of the gene coding for acyltransfurase was determined as follows: The purified mRNA was reversed transcribed into cDNA using olig (dT), 5 and reverse transcriptase (Superscript II RNase H-, Gibco-BRL, used with 0 1 μg mRNA in 10 μL reaction according to manufacturer's instructions) One μL resulting mixture was then used for polymerase chain reaction m a 100 μL reaction mixture containing 10 mM Tris-HCl 8 3, 50 mM KC1, 1 5 mM MgCl 2 , 0 1% (w/v) gelatin, 200 μM dNTPs, 3 2 μM of 20 base primer PT 50 (having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 11), 1 6 μM pπmer RE24 (having the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 12, and 2 5 Units Taq polymerase In the sequence of SEQ LD NO 12, N stands for inosine The primers PT50 and RE24 correspond to the least degenerate two of the seven polypeptides referred to and described in terms of sequences in Example I Polymerase chain reaction was carried out in 34 cycles of denaturing (920C, 1 mm ), annealing (50O C, 40 sec ), and polymerization (72θC, 1 min ) and one cycle of 72θC, 10 min The polymerase chain reaction products were analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and the major amplification product was excised from the gel, eluted and purified using GeneClearuT nucleic acid clean up kit (available from Bio 101), following the manufacturer's instructions, and ligated into PCRII vector (supplied by Invitrogen) following the ATR cloning method (provided by Invitrogen) DNA sequencing was carried out to verify the amplified fragment as a component of the acyltransferase gene and to identify the sequences corresponding to the tryptic peptides (corresponding to the primers used) obtained from the purified enzyme and to provide sequencing information for primers to obtain the 5_ and 3_ ends of the acyltransferase gene as described below Gene fragment including the 5_ end of the gene was then obtained as follows Aliquot of mixture resulting from the reverse transcription of total purified mRNA was primed with a 20 base pair gene-specific primer having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing SEQ LD NO 13 (based on a portion of the sequence determined as described above for 5_ end of middle fragment) The resulting cDNA was dC-tailed at the 5_ end and the 5_ end was amplified by polymerase chain reaction using a 20 base pair nested primer having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 14 (based on another portion of the sequence determined as described above for the 5_ end of the middle fragment) and an anchor primer having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 15 (Gibco-BRL catalog #18388-017) In the sequence of SEQ LD NO 15, N is inosine The major amplification product is excised and recovered as described above and cloned into pAMPl (Gibco-BRL), following the manufacturer's instructions, and sequenced. Next gene fragment including the 3_ end of the gene was obtained as follows cDNA was synthesized from purified mRNA using reverse transcription primed with Oligo (dT) primer attached to an adapter primer The 3_ end of the cDNA was amplified using Gibco-BRL 3_ RACE (rapid amplification of cDNA ends) kit In a first round of amplification, a 20 base pair primer (based on a portion of the sequence determined as described above for the 3_ end of the middle fragment) having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 16, was used A second round of polymerase chain reaction was then carried out using a 20 base pair nested primer (based on another portion of the sequence determinated as described above for the 3_ end of the middle fragment) having the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 17, to enrich the 3_ end cDNA fragment The polymerase chain reaction product was cloned into pAMPl (Gibco-BRL) following the manufacturer's instructions, and sequenced Having cloned and sequenced the 5_ and 3_ ends of the cDNA, primers were synthesized corresponding to these ends and also incorporating BamHI and EcoRI restriction sites and these were used to amplify the entire acyltransferase gene sequence from the cDNA obtained from purified mRNA The primers used respectively had the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 18 (includes a BamHI restriction site as the first nine bases of the sequence) and the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO 19 (includes an EcoRI restriction site as the first seven bases of the sequence) The amplified entire gene was cloned into the E. coli vector pBluescript (supplied by Stratagene) which was prepared with BamHI and EcoRI and transformed into XL 1 -Blue E. coli cells (from Stratagene) according to the supplier's instructions, for sequencing The gene was sequenced by automatic DNA sequencing and was determined to have the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NO 9 EXAMPLE III Transformation of Gene Coding for Acyltransferase into S. cerevisiae and Induction of Expression of Acyltransferase A. Construction of expression clone pYAGT2 Bv Inserting Entire Acyltransferase cDNA Sequence into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae Expression Vector pYES2. to Generate Plasmid pYAGT2 Oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the acyltransferase 5' and 3' ends and incorporating BamHI and EcoRI restriction sites were used to amplify the gene (isolated in Example II) directly from the cDNA by polymerase chain reaction. The primers respectively have the sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 18 and as SEQ LD NO: 19. After purification and treatment with BamHI and EcoRI, the gene was ligated, using T4 DNA ligase, to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae expression vector pYΕS2 (Invitrogen), which was prepared by the same restriction enzymes. The resulting plasmid was designated pYAGT2. To verify that correct gene was ligated, the ligation reaction was transformed into XL- 1 Blue E. coli cells, and the correctly ligated products from transformants were verified by DNA sequencing. The plasmid pYAGT2 was deposited with the American Type Culture Collection, 12301 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20852 on June 15, 1996 under the terms of the Budapest Treaty and has been assigned accession number ATCC 97613. B. Transforming pYAGT2 into S. cerevisiae S. cerevisiae strain KT1115 (MATa leu2-3 leu2-1 12 ura-52) is used as the recipient cell type for pYES2 transformation following the procedures described by Gietz, D., et al., Nucleic Acids Research 20: 1425 (1992). Uracil dropout medium (Short Protocols in Molecular Biology, A Compendium of Methods from Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel, F.M., et al., editors, 2nd Edition, Green Publishing Associates and John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1992) was used as selective medium. C. Induction of Expression of Protein Encoded bv the Recombinant Plasmid Baffled flasks were used to . grow yeast cultures for the expression of the L. pennelli acyltransferase. Transformed yeast cells were inoculated in uracil dropout medium (with 5% (w/v) raffinose instead of 2% (w/v) glucose), until OD^o reached 0.4 to 0.5. Galactose was then added to a final concentration of 2% (w/v) to induce expression of the protein. lOmL samples were collected at 4, 8, 24 and 48 hours after the addition of galactose. D. Determination of Expressed Protein as Being Acyltransferase Induced cells were centrifuged, washed with cold H 2 O and then with cold FT buffer, i.e., freeze and thaw buffer: lOOmM Hepes, pH 7.5, 20% (v/v) glycerol, 0. 1% (v/v) Triton X-100). The pelleted cells were resuspended in an equal volume of cold FT buffer and frozen at -80OC overnight or longer. For assay for activity, the permeabilized cells were thawed quickly at 30OC and an aliquot removed as described by Miozzari (Miozzari, G.F., et al., Analytical Biochemistry 90:220-233 (1978)). When lOmL of cells were removed for assay under standard conditions for measurement of acyltransferase activity using l-O-[ l4 C-isobutyryl]-β-glucose as described above, S. cerevisiae cells transformed with only the pYES2 vector do not possess detectable acyltransferase activity giving rise to higher-order glucose esters at any time-point after induction with galactose. However, S. cerevisiae cells harboring the pYAGT2 plasmid containing the acyltransferase gene exhibited the ability to form higher-order esters at 4, 8 and 24 hours after induction with galactose showing acyltransferase activity was expressed. Highest activity was found 24 hours after induction, and activity at 48 hours was slightly lower than at 24 hours. EXAMPLE IV Preparation of Monopalmitoyl Glucose from 1-O-Palmitoyl-β-D-glucose and Glucose Tetrabenzylglucose (1.8 g, 3.3mmol), Pfanstiehl Chemical Co., was reacted with palmitoyl chloride (Sigma Chemical Co.) in dry benzene at 62°C and deprotected by the procedure of Pfeffer, P.E., et al., J. Org. Chem. 41, 2925-2927 (1976), to produce 1-O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose. A reaction mix was made up containing 2 mM 1-O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose, 40 μM [U- I4 C] glucose (2 x 10 s cpm) and 1 mg/ml of acyltransferase protein (specific activity of 4X10 '2 nanokatals mg "1 ) in 15 μl of a mixture of 50mm Hepes-NaOH, pH 7.0 (buffer), lOmM MgCl 2 (stabilizer of protein structure and enzymymatic activity), and lOmM dithiothreitol (inhibitor of polyphenol oxidase; acts as copper chelator and as scavenger of quinones, the reaction product of polyphenol oxidase; also promotes higher order esterification presumably by maintaining essential Cys residues of the acyltransferase in reduced form) and incubation was carried out at 37° C. Reaction progress was monitored by TLC as described in Ghangas, G.S et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 991 1-9915 (1993). The % cpm in monoacyl-[ l4 C] glucose was 2.3 after 1 hour, 4.4 after 2 hours and 4.7 after 3 hours. When 1-O-isobutyryl-β-D-glucose was substituted for the 1-O-palmitoyI-β- D-glucose, the % cpm in monoacyl-[ l4 C] glucose was 3.08 after 1 hour, 5.80 after 2 hours, and 6.20 after 3 hours. EXAMPLE V Preparation of Dipalmitoyl Glucose from 1 -O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose l-O-Palmitoyl-β-D-glucose (O. lmM) and 80 μM [U J4 C] glucose (2 x 10 7 cpm) were incubated with 1 mg acyltransferase (specific activity of about 0.037 nanokatals mg "1 ) from L. pennelli in 0.5 ml 50mM sodium Pi, pH 6.5, for 2 hours at 42° C. The reaction was stopped by addition of 1 ml of chilled ethanol, and after centrifugation, the supernatant was recovered, concentrated, and applied to a preparative TLC plate to isolate the l-O-palmitoyl-β-D-[ l4 C -glucose] band Reaction mix was made up containing 3 x 10" cpm l-O-palmitoyl-β-D-[ l4 C- glucose], 50mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7.0, lOmM dithiothreitol (inhibits oxidation browning), lOmM MgCl 2 (protein structure stabilizer) and acyltransferase (3.6 mg/mL protein; specific activity of about 0.037 nanokatal mg "1 ) from L. pennelli in 15 μl were incubated at 37° C. The products were separated and monitored by TLC as described in Ghangas, G.S., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci USA 90, 991 1-9915 (1993). The percent of total cpm in [ 14 C] glucose by-product was 40% indicating that the disproportion reaction had occurred to provide dipalmitovl glucose. When 1-O-isobutyτyl-β-D-glucose was substituted for the 1 -O-palmitoyl-β- D-glucose, the percent of total cpm in [ 14 C] glucose by-product was 44.8% indicating that the disproportion reaction had occurred to provide diisobutyryl glucose. EXAMPLE VI Preparation of Tripalmitoyl Glucose from 1 -O-Palmitoyl-β-D-glucose A 15 μL reaction containing 1 -O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose (1 mM), [U- 14 C]- glucose (2 x 10 5 cpm), and 2.5 mg L. pennellii LA716 crude leaf extract protein/ml in 100 mM sodium phosphate pH 6.5 was incubated for 28 hr at 370C. The products were separated and monitored by TLC as described in Ghangas GS and Steffens JC, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:9911-9915 (1 1/93). The percent of total cpm converted to tripalmitoylglucose was equivalent to 8 pmol. Formation of mono- and 15 dipalmitoylglucose in the same reaction was 2660 and 459 pmol, respectively Under the same conditions 1-O-isobutyryI-β-D-glucose yielded 3410, 34 and 14 pmol mono-, di- and triisobutryrylglucose, respectively. Variations in the invention will be obvious to those skilled in the art Therefore, the invention is defined by the claims. SEQUENCE LISTING (1) GENERAL INFORMATION: (i) APPLICANT: Cornell Research Foundation, Inc. (ii) TITLE OF INVENTION: Acyltransferase and Gene Encoding Acyltransferase (Hi) NUMBER OF SEQUENCES: 19 (iv) CORRESPONDENCE ADDRESS: (A) ADDRESSEE: The Procter & Gamble Company (B) STREET: 5299 Spring Grove Avenue (C) CITY: Cincinnati, (D) STATE: Ohio (E) COUNTRY: USA (F) ZLP: 45217-1087 (v) COMPUTER READABLE FORM: (A) MEDIUM TYPE: Floppy disk (B) COMPUTER: LBM PC compatible (C) OPERATING SYSTEM: PC-DOS/MS-DOS (D) SOFTWARE: Patentin Release #1.0, Version #1.25 (vi) CURRENT APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: (B) FILING DATE: (C) CLASSIFICATION: (vii) PRIOR APPLICATION DATA: (A) APPLICATION NUMBER: US 08/665,966 (B) FILING DATE: 21 -JUN- 1996 (viii)ATTORNEY/AGENTINFORMATION: (A) NAME: T. David Reed (B) REGISTRATION NUMBER: 32,931 (C) REFERENCE/DOCKET NUMBER: 6479#/KL (ix) TELECOMMUNICATION INFORMATION: (A) TELEPHONE: 513-627-7025 (B) TELEFAX: 513-627-6333 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 1 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 12 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRLPTION: SEQ LD NO: 1 : Glu His Phe He Val Glu Thr Leu Pro Gly Phe His 1 5 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO:2: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 8 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO:2: Leu Glu Leu Asn Ser Tyr Ser Tip 1 5 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO.3: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1 1 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO 3 : He Tyr Asp Gly He Glu Val Gly Asp Arg Pro 1 5 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO 4: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO:4: Gly Tyr He Gin Gly Asn Ala Leu Thr Asp Arg 1 5 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 5: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 7 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO 5: Ser He Asp Phe Asn Gly Arg 1 5 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO:6: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 11 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO:6: Tyr Ala Asn His Met Gly Leu He Ser Asp Lys 1 5 10 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO:7: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 17 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 7: Asn Gly Asn Tyr He Asp Val Asp Pro Asn Asn He Leu Leu Leu Asn 1 5 10 15 Asp (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ ED NO: 8: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 179 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: peptide (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO:8: Glu His Phe He Val Glu Thr Leu Pro Gly Phe His Gly Lys Leu Pro 1 5 10 15 Phe Leu Thr Glu Thr Gly Thr He Ser Val Gly Glu Glu Glu Lys Val 20 25 30 Gin Leu Phe Tyr Phe Phe Val Gin Ser Glu Arg Asp Pro Arg Asn Asp 35 40 45 Pro Leu Met He Trp Leu Thr Gly Gly Pro Gly Cys Ser Gly Leu Ser 50 55 60 Ser Leu Val Tyr Glu He Gly Pro Leu Thr Phe Asp Tyr Ala Asn Ser 65 70 75 80 Ser Gly Asn Phe Pro Lys Leu Glu Leu Asn Ser Tyr Ser Tyr Thr Lys 85 90 95 Val Ala Asn He He Phe He Asp Gin Pro Ala Gly Thr Gly Tyr Ser 100 105 110 Tyr Ala Asn Thr Ser Glu Ala Tyr Asn Cys Asn Asp Thr Leu Ser Val 115 120 125 Thr Leu Thr Tyr Asp Phe Leu Arg Lys Tφ Leu Met Asp His Pro Glu 130 135 140 Tyr Leu Asn Asn Pro Leu Tyr Val Gly Gly Asp Ser Tyr Ser Gly He 145 150 155 160 Phe Val Ala Leu Leu Thr Arg Lys He Tyr Asp Gly He Glu Val Gly 165 170 175 Asp Arg Pro (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO 9: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 1604 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: double (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: CDS (B) LOCATION: 55..1392 (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO 9 ATGGCGCGGG TCACACTGTT TCTATTGCTG CTACTTGTAT ACGGTGTAGT CTCC GAG 57 Glu 1 21 CAC TTC ATT GTT GAA ACT CTT CCT GGG TTT CAT GGA AAA CTT CCA TTT 105 His Phe He Val Glu Thr Leu Pro Gly Phe His Gly Lys Leu Pro Phe 5 10 15 ACA CTC GAA ACT GGT TAT ATT AGT GTT GGA GAA GAG GAA AAA GTG CAG 153 Thr Leu Glu Thr Gly Tyr He Ser Val Gly Glu Glu Glu Lys Val Gin 20 25 30 CTA TTT TAT TTC TTT GTA CAA TCT GAG AGA GAC CCA CGA AAT GAT CCT 201 Leu Phe Tyr Phe Phe Val Gin Ser Glu Arg Asp Pro Arg Asn Asp Pro 35 40 45 CTC ATG ATT TGG CTC ACC GGA GGT CCT GGT TGT TCT GGT CTG TCT TCC 249 Leu Met He Tφ Leu Thr Gly Gly Pro Gly Cys Ser Gly Leu Ser Ser 50 55 60 65 TTA GTA TAT GAA ATT GGC CCT TTA ACC TTT GAT TAT GCA AAT TCT AGT 297 Leu Val Tyr Glu He Gly Pro Leu Thr Phe Asp Tyr Ala Asn Ser Ser 70 75 80 GGA AAT TTC CCG AAA CTG GAG TTG AAC TCA TAT TCT TGG ACC AAG GTG 345 Gly Asn Phe Pro Lys Leu Glu Leu Asn Ser Tyr Ser Tφ Thr Lys Val 85 90 95 GCAAACATAATATTTATAGATCAACCTGCTGGCACAGGCTACTCA TAT 393 Ala Asn He He Phe He Asp Gin Pro Ala Gly Thr Gly Tyr Ser Tyr 100 105 110 GCAAACACTTCAGAAGCTTACAACTGCAATGATACCCTCTCTGTA ACT 441 Ala Asn Thr Ser Glu Ala Tyr Asn Cys Asn Asp Thr Leu Ser Val Thr 115 120 125 CTA ACT TAT GAC TTC CTT AGA AAG TGG CTT ATG GAT CAT CCC GAG TAT 489 Leu Thr Tyr Asp Phe Leu Arg Lys Tφ Leu Met Asp His Pro Glu Tyr 130 135 140 145 CTCAACAATCCACTATATGTTGGTGGTGATTCCTACTCAGGCATT TTT 537 Leu Asn Asn Pro Leu Tyr Val Gly Gly Asp Ser Tyr Ser Gly He Phe 150 155 160 GTTGCACTGCTTACTCGCAAAATATACGATGGTATTGAAGTTGGT GAC 585 Val Ala Leu Leu Thr Arg Lys He Tyr Asp Gly He Glu Val Gly Asp 165 170 175 AGG CCT CGA GTT ATT ATC AAA GGA TAT TTC CAA GGA AAT GCT CTA ACA 633 Arg Pro Arg Val He He Lys Gly Tyr Phe Gin Gly Asn Ala Leu Thr 180 185 190 GAT AGA TCC ATC GAC TTC AAT GGT AGA GTC AAA TAT GCT AAT CAT ATG 681 Asp Arg Ser He Asp Phe Asn Gly Arg Val Lys Tyr Ala Asn His Met 195 200 205 GGA CTT ATT TCA GAT AAG ATC TAT CAG TCT GCT AAA GCA AAT TGC AAC 729 Gly Leu He Ser Asp Lys He Tyr Gin Ser Ala Lys Ala Asn Cys Asn 210 215 220 225 GGG AAT TAC ATT GAC GTT GAT CCA AAT AAC ATA TTA TGC CTA AAT GAT 777 Gly Asn Tyr He Asp Val Asp Pro Asn Asn He Leu Cys Leu Asn Asp 230 235 240 CTT CAG AAA GTA ACA AGG TGT CTC AAG AAC ATA CGA CGG GCG CAA ATT 825 Leu Gin Lys Val Thr Arg Cys Leu Lys Asn He Arg Arg Ala Gin He 245 250 255 TTAGAGCCTTACTGTGACCTTCCATATTTAATGGGTATTCTCCAA GAA 873 Leu Glu Pro Tyr Cys Asp Leu Pro Tyr Leu Met Gly He Leu Gin Glu 260 265 270 ACTCCTACAAATGGCCAGTCAGTATTTCCAATTGCAGGACCATGG TGT 921 Thr Pro Thr Asn Gly Gin Ser Val Phe Pro He Ala Gly Pro Trp Cys 275 280 285 CGAGAAAAGAATTACATATACTCGTATGTTTGGGCAAATGAT AAAGCT 969 Arg Glu Lys Asn Tyr He Tyr Ser Tyr Val Tφ Ala Asn Asp Lys Ala 290 295 300 305 GTCCAGAAAGCACTAAGCGTTCGTGAGGGAACAACATTGGAG TGGGTG 1017 Val Gin Lys Ala Leu Ser Val Arg Glu Gly Thr Thr Leu Glu Tφ Val 310 315 320 AGATGCAATGAAAGCATGCATTATAGAGGTAAGGAGAGAACC GAGTCA 1065 Arg Cys Asn Glu Ser Met His Tyr Arg Gly Lys Glu Arg Thr Glu Ser 325 330 335 TATGTGTATGATGTCCCAAGTGTCATTGATGATCATCAACATCTC ACC 1113 Tyr Val Tyr Asp Val Pro Ser Val He Asp Asp His Gin His Leu Thr 340 345 350 AGCAAATCCTGTCGAGCACTAATTTACAGTGGTGACCATGAC ATGGTT 1161 Ser Lys Ser Cys Arg Ala Leu He Tyr Ser Gly Asp His Asp Met Val 355 360 365 GTTCCTCATTTGAGCACGGAGGAATGGATAGAGACTTTGAAA CTTCCA 1209 Val Pro His Leu Ser Thr Glu Glu Tφ He Glu Thr Leu Lys Leu Pro 370 375 380 385 ATT GCA GAT GAT TGG GAG CCT TGG TTT GTT GAC GAT CAA GTA GCA GGA 1257 He Ala Asp Asp Tφ Glu Pro Tφ Phe Val Asp Asp Gin Val Ala Gly 390 395 400 TACAAAGTGAAGTATTTACAAAATGATTATGAAATGACATAT GCAACT 1305 Tyr Lys Val Lys Tyr Leu Gin Asn Asp Tyr Glu Met Thr Tyr Ala Thr 405 410 415 GTTAAGGGTGCGGGGCATACTGCTCCTGAATACAAGCCAGAA CAATGC 1353 Val Lys Gly Ala Gly His Thr Ala Pro Glu Tyr Lys Pro Glu Gin Cys 420 425 430 CTGCCCATGGTTGATAGGTGGTTTTCCGGTGACCCTCTT TGATTTCACC 1402 Leu Pro Met Val Asp Arg Tφ Phe Ser Gly Asp Pro Leu 435 440 445 CTTGCAAGAC ATTAATGTAC TCATTTGTTT CTCTGGATTG ACATAAGCTT GCTTCTTTGA 1462 GCAACATCAC ATTAAGCTTG TCTGTCATGT AATCTTGACA TGTAAAATCA CACATTAAAA 1522 AGT AT AT ATC ATTCGAGGTT GACGTTAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA 1582 AAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAA AA 1604 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 10: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH. 446 amino acids (B) TYPE: amino acid (D) TOPOLOGY linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: protein (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 10: Glu His Phe He Val Glu Thr Leu Pro Gly Phe His Gly Lys Leu Pro 1 5 10 15 Phe Thr Leu Glu Thr Gly Tyr He Ser Val Gly Glu Glu Glu Lys Val 20 25 30 Gin Leu Phe Tyr Phe Phe Val Gin Ser Glu Arg Asp Pro Arg Asn Asp 35 40 45 Pro Leu Met He Tφ Leu Thr Gly Gly Pro Gly Cys Ser Gly Leu Ser 50 55 60 Ser Leu Val Tyr Glu He Gly Pro Leu Thr Phe Asp Tyr Ala Asn Ser 65 70 75 80 Ser Gly Asn Phe Pro Lys Leu Glu Leu Asn Ser Tyr Ser Tφ Thr Lys 85 90 95 Val Ala Asn He He Phe He Asp Gin Pro Ala Gly Thr Gly Tyr Ser 100 105 110 Tyr Ala Asn Thr Ser Glu Ala Tyr Asn Cys Asn Asp Thr Leu Ser Val 115 120 125 Thr Leu Thr Tyr Asp Phe Leu Arg Lys Tφ Leu Met Asp His Pro Glu 130 135 140 Tyr Leu Asn Asn Pro Leu Tyr Val Gly Gly Asp Ser Tyr Ser Gly He 145 150 155 160 Phe Val Ala Leu Leu Thr Arg Lys He Tyr Asp Gly He Glu Val Gly 165 170 175 Asp Arg Pro Arg Val He He Lys Gly Tyr Phe Gin Gly Asn Ala Leu 180 185 190 Thr Asp Arg Ser He Asp Phe Asn Gly Arg Val Lys Tyr Ala Asn His 195 200 205 Met Gly Leu He Ser Asp Lys He Tyr Gin Ser Ala Lys Ala Asn Cys 210 215 220 Asn Gly Asn Tyr He Asp Val Asp Pro Asn Asn He Leu Cys Leu Asn 225 230 235 240 Asp Leu Gin Lys Val Thr Arg Cys Leu Lys Asn He Arg Arg Ala Gin 245 250 255 He Leu Glu Pro Tyr Cys Asp Leu Pro Tyr Leu Met Gly He Leu Gin 260 265 270 Glu Thr Pro Thr Asn Gly Gin Ser Val Phe Pro He Ala Gly Pro Tφ 275 280 285 Cys Arg Glu Lys Asn Tyr He Tyr Ser Tyr Val Tφ Ala Asn Asp Lys 290 295 300 Ala Val Gin Lys Ala Leu Ser Val Arg Glu Gly Thr Thr Leu Glu Tφ 305 310 315 320 Val Arg Cys Asn Glu Ser Met His Tyr Arg Gly Lys Glu Arg Thr Glu 325 330 335 Ser Tyr Val Tyr Asp Val Pro Ser Val He Asp Asp His Gin His Leu 340 345 350 Thr Ser Lys Ser Cys Arg Ala Leu He Tyr Ser Gly Asp His Asp Met 355 360 365 Val Val Pro His Leu Ser Thr Glu Glu Tφ He Glu Thr Leu Lys Leu 370 375 380 Pro He Ala Asp Asp Tφ Glu Pro Tφ Phe Val Asp Asp Gin Val Ala 385 390 395 400 Gly Tyr Lys Val Lys Tyr Leu Gin Asn Asp Tyr Glu Met Thr Tyr Ala 405 410 415 Thr Val Lys Gly Ala Gly His Thr Ala Pro Glu Tyr Lys Pro Glu Gin 420 425 430 Cys Leu Pro Met Val Asp Arg Tφ Phe Ser Gly Asp Pro Leu 435 440 445 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 1 1 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 1 1 : GARCAYTTYA TYGTKGARAC 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 12: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: misc_feature (B) LOCATION: 3 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 12: ARNCCCATRT GRTTWGCRTA 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 13 : (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS. single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 13: ATCTGTTAGA GCATTGCCTT 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 14: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 14: GCCTGTCACC AACTTCAATA 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 15: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 48 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: rniscjeature (B) LOCATION: 36 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: rniscjeature (B) LOCATION: 37 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: rniscjeature (B) LOCATION: 41 CD) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: rniscjeature (B) LOCATION: 42 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: misc_feature (B) LOCATION: 46 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (ix) FEATURE: (A) NAME/KEY: rniscjeature (B) LOCATION: 47 (D) OTHER INFORMATION: /note= "N is inosine" (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 15: CUACUACUAC UAGGCCACGC GTCGACTAGT ACGGGNNGGG NNGGGNNG 48 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 16: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 16: GTTGGAGAAG AGGAAAAAGT 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 17: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 20 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 17: TACAATCTGA GAGAGACCCA 20 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 18: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 29 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRLPTION: SEQ LD NO: 18: AAGGATCCAA TGGCGCGGGT CACACTGTT 29 (2) INFORMATION FOR SEQ LD NO: 19: (i) SEQUENCE CHARACTERISTICS: (A) LENGTH: 27 base pairs (B) TYPE: nucleic acid (C) STRANDEDNESS: single (D) TOPOLOGY: linear (ii) MOLECULE TYPE: cDNA (xi) SEQUENCE DESCRIPTION: SEQ LD NO: 19: AGAATTCTTA ACGTCAACCT CGAATGA 27

Claims: 31 WHAT IS CLAIMED IS: 1. An essentially pure acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8. 2. The essentially pure acyltransferase of claim 1 which additionally comprises the sequences set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NOS: 5 and 6. 3. The essentially pure acyltransferase of claim 2 which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 10. 4. A purified acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ ID NOS: 1-7. 5. An isolated gene encoding acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 9. 6. A method for preparing palmitoyl esters of glucose which comprises reacting 1 -O-palmitoyl-β-D-glucose with glucose or palmitoyl partial ester of glucose in the presence of acyltransferase which comprises the sequence set forth in the Sequence Listing as SEQ LD NO: 8.

Inventors: GHANGAS GURDEV S, STEFFENS JOHN C, GHANGAS, GURDEV, S., STEFFENS, JOHN, C.
Applicants: CORNELL RES FOUNDATION INC, CORNELL RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: C12N15
IPC codes: B65D85, C12N9, C12N15, C12P19