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Identification of an N ‐acetylglucosamine kinase essential for UDP‐ N ‐acetylglucosamine salvage synthesis in Arabidopsis
Author(s) -
Furo Keisuke,
Nozaki Mamoru,
Murashige Hiroshi,
Sato Yasushi
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/j.febslet.2015.09.011
Subject(s) - arabidopsis , n acetylglucosamine , glycoconjugate , biochemistry , kinase , glycan , mutant , nucleotide salvage , enzyme , transferase , glycosyltransferase , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , uridine diphosphate , biology , gene , glycoprotein , nucleotide
Uridine diphosphate‐ N ‐acetylglucosamine (UDP‐GlcNAc) donates GlcNAc for various glycans and glycoconjugates. We previously found that GlcNAc supplementation increases the UDP‐GlcNAc content in Arabidopsis ; however, the metabolic pathway was undefined. Here, we show that the homolog of human GlcNAc kinase (GNK) is conserved in land plants. Enzymatic assays of the Arabidopsis homologous protein (AtGNK) revealed kinase activity that was highly specific for GlcNAc. We also demonstrate the role of AtGNK in plants by using its knockout mutant, which presents lower UDP‐GlcNAc contents and is insensitive to GlcNAc supplementation. Moreover, our results demonstrate the presence of a GlcNAc salvage pathway in plants.