Three kinds of extracellular glucosyltransferases from Streptococcus mutans 6715 (serotype g)

Abstract

In addition to the 1,3-alpha-D-glucan synthetase (pI 4.9) and the highly-branched 1,6-alpha-D-glucan synthetase (pI 3.9-4.1), Streptococcus mutans 6715 (serotype g) was found to secrete the third glucosyltransferase in multiple forms (pI 5.5-7.0), which exhibited 87% 1,6-alpha-bond-, 6% 1,3-alpha-bond- and 7% 1,3,6-branch-forming activities. The production of this enzyme was extremely enhanced when the organism was grown in Tween 80-supplemented medium. The 3 glucosyltransferases from the same organism were enzymatically and immunologically distinct from each other, and they were commonly found among the serotype g strains.