I. Mouyna et al., Identification of the catalytic residues of the first family of beta(1-3)glucanosyltransferases identified in fungi, BIOCHEM J, 347, 2000, pp. 741-747
A new family of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored beta(1-3)glucanosyltr
ansferases (Gelp), recently identified and characterized in the filamentous
fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, showed functional similarity to the Gas/Phr/
Epd protein families, which are involved in yeast morphogenesis. Sequence c
omparisons and hydrophobic cluster analysis (HCA) showed that all the Gas/P
hr/Epd/Gel proteins belong to a new family of glycosylhydrolases, family 72
. We confirmed by site-directed mutagenesis and biochemical analysis that t
he two conserved glutamate residues (the putative catalytic residues of thi
s family, as determined by HCA) are involved in the active site of this fam
ily of glycosylhydrolases.