International Journal of Molecular Sciences Article Two Homologous Enzymes of the GalU Family in Rhodococcus opacus 1CP—RoGalU1 and RoGalU2 Antje Kumpf 1,2,3,*, Anett Partzsch 1, André Pollender 1 , Isabel Bento 2 and Dirk Tischler 3,* 1 Environmental Microbiology, Institute of Biosciences, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Leipziger Str. 29, 09599 Freiberg, Germany;
[email protected] (A.P.);
[email protected] (A.P.) 2 EMBL Hamburg, Notkestr. 85, 22607 Hamburg, Germany;
[email protected] 3 Microbial Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology & Biotechnology, Ruhr University Bochum, Universitätsstr. 150, 44780 Bochum, Germany * Correspondence:
[email protected] (A.K.);
[email protected] (D.T.); Tel.: +49-234-32-22082 (A.K.); +49-234-32-22656 (D.T.) Received: 28 October 2019; Accepted: 16 November 2019; Published: 19 November 2019 Abstract: Uridine-5’-diphosphate (UDP)-glucose is reported as one of the most versatile building blocks within the metabolism of pro- and eukaryotes. The activated sugar moiety is formed by the enzyme UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (GalU). Two homologous enzymes (designated as RoGalU1 and RoGalU2) are encoded by most Rhodococcus strains, known for their capability to degrade numerous compounds, but also to synthesize natural products such as trehalose comprising biosurfactants. To evaluate their functionality respective genes of a trehalose biosurfactant producing model organism—Rhodococcus opacus 1CP—were cloned and expressed, proteins produced (yield up to 47 mg per L broth) and initially biochemically characterized. In the case of RoGalU2, the Vmax 1 was determined to be 177 U mg− (uridine-5’-triphosphate (UTP)) and Km to be 0.51 mM (UTP), respectively.