Comparison of the UDP- N -Acetylmuramate: l -Alanine Ligase Enzymes from Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae

Abstract
In the peptidoglycan of Mycobacterium leprae , l -alanine of the side chain is replaced by glycine. When expressed in Escherichia coli , MurC (UDP- N -acetyl-muramate: l -alanine ligase) of M. leprae showed K m and V max for l -alanine and glycine similar to those of Mycobacterium tuberculosis MurC, suggesting that another explanation should be sought for the presence of glycine.