The

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

l phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar

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 to be a multicomponent system that always i ...

(PTS) is a multi-protein system involved in the regulation of a variety of metabolic and transcriptional processes. The PTS catalyzes the phosphorylation of incoming sugar substrates concomitant with their translocation across the

cell membrane The cell membrane (also known as the plasma membrane (PM) or cytoplasmic membrane, and historically referred to as the plasmalemma) is a biological membrane that separates and protects the interior of all cells from the outside environment ( ...

. The general

mechanism Mechanism may refer to: * Mechanism (engineering), rigid bodies connected by joints in order to accomplish a desired force and/or motion transmission *Mechanism (biology), explaining how a feature is created *Mechanism (philosophy), a theory that ...

of the PTS is the following: a

phosphoryl {{unreferenced, date=May 2015 A phosphoryl group is the chemical ion or radical: P+O32−, containing phosphorus and oxygen. (The correct chemical name for this −PO32− group is phosphonato, and phosphono for −PO3H2; as ''phosphoryl'' in ch ...

group from

phosphoenolpyruvate Phosphoenolpyruvate (2-phosphoenolpyruvate, PEP) is the ester derived from the enol of pyruvate and phosphate. It exists as an anion. PEP is an important intermediate in biochemistry. It has the highest-energy phosphate bond found (−61.9 kJ/m ...

(PEP) is transferred to enzyme-I (EI) of PTS which in turn transfers it to a phosphoryl

carrier protein A membrane transport protein (or simply transporter) is a membrane protein involved in the movement of ions, small molecules, and macromolecules, such as another protein, across a biological membrane. Transport proteins are integral transmembrane ...

(HPr). Phospho-HPr then transfers the phosphoryl group to a sugar-specific

permease The permeases are membrane transport proteins, a class of multipass transmembrane proteins that allow the diffusion of a specific molecule in or out of the cell in the direction of a concentration gradient, a form of facilitated diffusion. The per ...

which consists of at least three

structurally A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...

distinct domains (IIA, IIB, and IIC) which can either be fused together in a single polypeptide chain or exist as two or three interactive chains, formerly called

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

s II (EII) and III (EIII). The IIC

domain Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function * Do ...

catalyze Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...

s the transfer of a phosphoryl group from IIB to the sugar substrate.

References

{{InterPro content, IPR003352 Transmembrane transporters Protein families