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Comment
. 2011 Jul 22;286(29):e6-8.
doi: 10.1074/jbc.o111.000247.

The lipid A assembly pathway: the work of Christian Raetz

Nicole Kresge, Robert D. Simoni, Robert L. Hill
Comment

The lipid A assembly pathway: the work of Christian Raetz

Nicole Kresge et al. J Biol Chem. .

Abstract

During his career, Christian Raetz has characterized many enzymes responsible for synthesizing or modifying lipid molecules, including the entire nine-enzyme pathway for the biosynthesis of lipid A, an essential part of bacterial outer membranes that plays a role in making many Gram-negative bacteria toxic. The findings from the two Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) Classic articles reprinted here were the start of Raetz' elucidation of the enzymology, genetics, and structural biology of lipid A assembly.

Fatty Acyl Derivatives of Glucosamine 1-Phosphate in Escherichia coli and Their Relation to Lipid A. Complete Structure of a Diacyl GlcN-1-P Found in a Phosphatidylglycerol-deficient Mutant (Takayama, K., Qureshi, N., Mascagni, P., Nashed, M. A., Anderson, L., and Raetz, C. R. H. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 7379–7385)

The Biosynthesis of Gram-negative Endotoxin. Formation of Lipid A Precursors from UDP-GlcNAc in Extracts of Escherichia coli (Anderson, M. S., Bulawa, C. E., and Raetz, C. R. H. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 15536–15541)

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Figures

None
Christian Raetz (left) and Eugene Kennedy at Kennedy's 90th birthday symposium in 2009. Raetz is holding a biochemistry textbook written by Kennedy's research advisor Albert Lehninger; thus the picture shows three generations of the Lehninger line of biochemists. Kennedy and Lehninger were featured in previous JBC Classics (3, 4).
FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment on

References

    1. JBC Classics: Tabor H., Rosenthal S. M., Tabor C. W. (1958) J. Biol. Chem. 233, 907–914; Tabor C. W., Tabor H. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 16037–16040 (http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/282/32/e26) - PubMed
    1. Nishijima M., Raetz C. R. H. (1979) Membrane lipid biogenesis in Escherichia coli: identification of genetic loci for phosphatidylglycerophosphate synthetase and construction of mutants lacking phosphatidylglycerol. J. Biol. Chem. 254, 7837–7844 - PubMed
    1. JBC Classics: Kennedy E. P., Lehninger A. L. (1949) J. Biol. Chem. 179, 957–972; Kennedy E. P., Weiss S. B. (1956) J. Biol. Chem. 222, 193–214 (http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/280/25/e22) - PubMed
    1. JBC Classics: Lehninger A. L. (1945) J. Biol. Chem. 157, 363–382 (http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/full/280/14/e11)

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