InterPro domain: IPR003337

Trehalose-phosphatases 3.1.3.12 catalyse the de-phosphorylation of trehalose-6-phosphate to trehalose and orthophosphate. Trehalose is a common disaccharide of bacteria, fungi and invertebrates that appears to play a major role in desiccation tolerance. A pathway for trehalose biosynthesis may also exist in plants [ 1 ]. The trehalose-phosphatase signature is found in the C terminus of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase 2.4.1.15 adjacent to the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase domain (see IPR001830 ). It would appear that the two equivalent genes in the Escherichia coli otsBA operon: otsA, the trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and otsB, trehalose-phosphatase (this family) have undergone gene fusion in most eukaryotes [ 2 ].

1. Trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatases from Arabidopsis thaliana: identification by functional complementation of the yeast tps2 mutant. Plant J. 13, 673-83
2. Analysis of the otsBA operon for osmoregulatory trehalose synthesis in Escherichia coli and homology of the OtsA and OtsB proteins to the yeast trehalose-6-phosphate synthase/phosphatase complex. Gene 145, 9-15