Cloning, Nucleotide Sequencing, and Characterization of the ptsG Gene Encoding Glucose-Specific Enzyme II of the Phosphotransferase System from Brevibacterium lactofermentum

A Brevibacterium lactofermentum gene coding for a glucose-specific permease of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS) was cloned, by complementing an Escherichia coli mutation affecting a ptsG gene with the B. lactofermentum genomic library, and completely sequenced. The gene was identified as a ptsG, which enables an E. coli transformant to transport non-metabolizable glucose analogue 2-deoxyglucose (2DG). The ptsG gene of B. lactofermentum consists of an open reading frame of 2,025 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 674 amino acid residues and a TAA stop codon. The 3' flanking region contains two stem-loop structures which may be involved in transcriptional termination. The deduced amino acid sequence of the B. lactofermentum enzyme $II^{GIe}$ specific to glucose ($EII^{GIe}$) has a high homology with the Corynebacterium glutamicum enzyme $II^{Man}$ specific to glucose and mannose ($EII^{Man}$), and the Brevibacterium ammoniagenes enzyme $II^{GIc}$ specific to glucose ($EII^{GIc}$). The 171-amino-acid C-terminal sequence of the $EII^{Glc}$ is also similar to the Escherichia coli enzyme $IIA^{GIc}$ specific to glucose ($IIA^{GIc}$). It is interesting that the arrangement of the structural domains, IIBCA, of the B. lactofermentum $EII^{GIc}$ protein is identical to that of EIIs specific to sucrose or $\beta$-glucoside. Several in vivo complementation studies indicated that the B. lactofermentum $EII^{Glc}$ protein could replace both $EII^{ Glc}$ and $EIIA^{Glc}$ in an E. coli ptsG mutant or crr mutant, respectively.