Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Purification of a High Molecular Mass Protein in Streptococcus mutans
Published on: September 14, 2019
Overlapping substrate specificity for sucrose and maltose of two binding protein-dependent sugar uptake systems in
Ali O Kilic1, Allen L Honeyman, Lin Tao
1Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Abstract:
Sugar metabolism by Streptococcus mutans is associated with tooth decay. The most abundant sugars in the human diet are sucrose and maltose, a derivative of starch. Previously, we reported a binding protein-dependent transport system (msm) in S. mutans that transports sucrose and maltose, but its associated enzymes do not metabolize maltose. By searching the S. mutans genomic sequence for a maltose system (mal), we found a gene cluster encoding proteins with homology to those of msm and the Escherichia coli maltose system. Mutants were constructed by deleting msm or mal, or both, and tested for sugar utilization. Deletion of the mal system diminished the ability of S. mutans to ferment maltose, but deletion of only the mal transporter genes or msm showed reduced utilization of chromogenic maltosides. Maltose, sucrose, glucose, fructose, mannose, and N-acetyl glucosamine inhibited utilization of chromogenic maltosides by the wild-type strain and mutants. In conclusion, the two binding protein-dependent systems in S. mutans appear to transport collaboratively their common substrate sugars, notably sucrose and maltose.
More Related Videos
11:09An Analytical Tool-box for Comprehensive Biochemical, Structural and Transcriptome Evaluation of Oral Biofilms Mediated by Mutans Streptococci
Published on: January 25, 2011
05:28Demonstration of Heterologous Complexes formed by Golgi-Resident Type III Membrane Proteins using Split Luciferase Complementation Assay
Published on: September 10, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Glucose Transporters
Facilitated diffusion-glucose transporters (GLUTs) are encoded by the solute-linked carrier (SLC) family 2, subfamily A gene family, or SLC2A. The 14 GLUT protein members are distributed into three classes:
Allosteric Proteins-ATCase
Aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) is a cytosolic enzyme that catalyzes the condensation of L-aspartate and carbamoyl phosphate to N-carbamoyl-L-aspartate. This reaction is the first step in pyrimidine biosynthesis. UTP and CTP, the end products of the pyrimidine synthesis pathway,...
Secondary Active Transport
Secondary Active Transport
Ligand Binding and Linkage
Membrane Proteins