Molecular analyses of glucosyltransferase genes among strains of Streptococcus mutans

Three glucosyltransferase (GTase) genes (gtfB, gtfC and gtfD) were cloned and sequenced from clinically isolated strains of Streptococcus mutans MT8148 (serotype c), MT4239 (c), MT4245 (e), MT4467 (e) and MT4251 (f), respectively. Comparison of the gtf genes revealed that interstrain difference of gtfB and gtfD was limited, while gtfC showed significant interstrain variations. Similar to gtfB and gtfD, gtfC possessed five direct repeats composed of homologous unit in the carboxyl-terminal portion. The repeating unit consisted of 63–65 amino acid residues and is responsible for glucan binding. The gtfC gene from S. mutans MT4245 lacked the fourth unit. Multiple alignment with the gtf sequence of strain GS-5 (c) revealed several changes in these gtf genes due to frameshift mutations. The peptides encoded by the gtfB, gtfC and gtfD genes of GS-5 were 1, 80, and 32 amino acid residues shorter than those of the test strains except strain MT4245.