Title: Studies towards a solution structure of the peptidoglycan glycosyltransferases
Description: Peptidoglycan glycosyltransferases (PGTs) are highly conserved bacterial enzymes that catalyze the polymerization of the lipidic disaccharide, Lipid II, to form individual peptidoglycan (PG) strands which are subsequently cross-linked to form mature PG, the major skeletal component of the bacterial cell wall. Recent advances in the preparation of well-defined PGT substrates have enabled the biochemical characterization of Lipid II polymerization by the PGTs. In the course of these studies, we have observed that a distinctive lag phase in the initial rate of PG synthesis by the PGTs can be abrogated if the enzyme is preincubated with Lipid IV, the shortest PG fragment.