Disease relevance of gntK

• Cloning and molecular genetic characterization of the Escherichia coli gntR, gntK, and gntU genes of GntI, the main system for gluconate metabolism [1].
• The genes involved in gluconate catabolism (gntP and gntK) in Corynebacterium glutamicum are scattered in the chromosome, and no regulatory genes are apparently associated with them, in contrast with the organization of the gnt operon in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis [2].

High impact information on gntK

• Read-through transcription from the gntR promoter into gntK was decreased in the presence of GntR, although GntR did not repress its own promoter [3].
• In addition, transcriptional attenuation was observed after the gntK gene, so gntU expression is reduced presumably to modulate the production of the low affinity gluconate permease according to the available concentration of gluconate [3].
• In C. glutamicum, gntP and gntK are essential genes when gluconate is the only carbon and energy source [2].
• Gluconate-specific uptake activity was observed with cells harboring the gntT plasmid clone, which was enhanced by the presence of gntK encoding gluconate kinase [4].

Associations of gntK with chemical compounds

• The expression of gntP and gntK is not induced by gluconate, and the gnt genes are subject to catabolite repression by sugars, such as glucose, fructose, and sucrose, as was detected by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) [2].

References