Molecular and Genetical Analysis of the Fructose-glucose Transport System in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803

Complementation for glucose transport capacity of deficient mutants from Synechocystis PCC6803 allowed the cloning of the corresponding gene, glcP. The protein predicted from one open reading frame (ORF) in the DNA sequence was 468 residues long. It showed 46-60% amino acid sequence homology and similarity in size and predicted structure (including twelve probable membrane-spanning regions) with a group of non-phosphorylating sugar transporters from mammals, yeasts and Escherichia coli. A second ORF, 64 base pairs downstream from glcP, was detected. Its function, dispensable under auto- and heterotrophic conditions, could not be determined. Genetic analysis of mutants confirmed that the resistance to fructose, acquired simultaneously with the deficiency in glucose transport, resulted from mutations in the glcP gene, whose approximate location could be determined.