Comparison of glycosyltransferase families using the profile hidden markov model

Abstract

In order to investigate the relationship between glycosyltransferase families and the motifs for them, we classified forty-seven glycosyltransferase families in the CAZy data-base into four superfamilies, GTS-A, -B, -C and -D, using a profile Hidden Markov Model method. On the basis of the classification and the similarity between GTS-A and nucleotidylyltransferase family catalyzing the synthesis of nucleotide-sugar, we proposed that ancient oligosaccharide might have been synthesized by the origin of GTS-B whereas the origin of GTS-A might be the gene encoding for synthesis of nucleotide-sugar as the donor and which have evolved to glycosyltransferases to catalyze the synthesis of divergent carbohydrates. We also suggested that the divergent evolution of each superfamily in the corresponding subcellular component has increased the complexities of eukaryotic carbohydrate structure.