Phosphotransferase system

PEP group translocation, also known as the phosphotransferase system or PTS, is a distinct method used by bacteria for sugar uptake where the source of energy is from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP). It is known as multicomponent system that always involves enzymes of the plasma membrane and those in the cytoplasm. The PTS system uses active transport. After the translocation across the membrane, the metabolites transported are modified. The system was discovered by Saul Roseman in 1964.

The phosphotransferase system is involved in transporting many sugars into bacteria, including glucose, mannose, fructose and cellobiose. PTS sugars can differ between bacterial groups, mirroring the most suitable carbon sources available in the environment every group evolved. In Escherichia coli, there are 21 different transporters (i.e. IIC proteins, sometimes fused to IIB and/or IIB proteins, see figure) which determine import specificity. Of these, 7 belong to the fructose (Fru) family, 7 belong to the glucose (Glc) family, and 7 belong to the other PTS permease families.

The phosphoryl group on PEP is eventually transferred to the imported sugar via several proteins. The phosphoryl group is transferred to the Enzyme E I (EI), Histidine Protein (HPr, Heat-stable Protein) and Enzyme E II (EII) to a conserved histidine residue, whereas in the Enzyme E II B (EIIB) the phosphoryl group is usually transferred to a cysteine residue and rarely to a histidine.

In the process of glucose PTS transport specific of enteric bacteria, PEP transfers its phosphoryl to a histidine residue on EI. EI in turn transfers the phosphate to HPr. From HPr the phosphoryl is transferred to EIIA. EIIA is specific for glucose and it further transfers the phosphoryl group to a juxtamembrane EIIB. Finally, EIIB phosphorylates glucose as it crosses the plasma membrane through the transmembrane Enzyme II C (EIIC), forming glucose-6-phosphate. The benefit of transforming glucose into glucose-6-phosphate is that it will not leak out of the cell, therefore providing a one-way concentration gradient of glucose. The HPr is common to the phosphotransferase systems of the other substrates mentioned earlier, as is the upstream EI.

...
Wikipedia