InterPro domain: IPR006001

This family of proteins includes thermoresistant and thermosensitve isozymes of gluconate kinase (gluconokinase) in E. coli and other related proteins; members of this family are often named by similarity to the thermostable isozyme. These proteins show homology to shikimate kinases and adenylate kinases but not to gluconate kinases from the FGGY family of carbohydrate kinases. The structure of the E. coli thermoresistant gluconate kinase GntK has been revealed [ 1 ]. GntK catalyzes the phosphoryl transfer from ATP to gluconate. The resulting product gluconate-6-phoshate is an important precursor of gluconate metabolism. GntK acts as a dimmer composed of two identical subunits [ 2 , 3 ].

1. Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of recombinant thermoresistant gluconate kinase GntK from Escherichia coli. Acta Crystallogr. D Biol. Crystallogr. 57, 1159-61
2. Conformational changes during the catalytic cycle of gluconate kinase as revealed by X-ray crystallography. J. Mol. Biol. 318, 1057-69
3. Purification and characterization of the Escherichia coli thermoresistant glucokinase encoded by the gntK gene. FEBS Lett. 394, 14-6