Glucosylceramide synthase catalyzes the first glycosylation step of glycosphingolipid synthesis. UDP-glucose:N-acylsphingosine D-glucosyltransferase (glucosylceramide synthase or ceramide glucosyltransferase) catalyzes the first glycosylation step of glycosphingolipid synthesis. Its product, glucosylceramide, serves as the core of more than 300 glycosphingolipids (GSL). GSLs are a group of membrane components that have the lipid portion embedded in the outer plasma membrane leaflet and the sugar chains extended to the outer environment. Several lines of evidence suggest the importance of GSLs in various cellular processes such as differentiation, adhesion, proliferation, and cell-cell recognition. In pathogenic fungus Cryptococcus neoformans, glucosylceramide serves as an antigen that elicits an antibody response in patients and it is essential for fungal growth in host extracellular environment.
CESA_like is the cellulose synthase superfamily. The cellulose synthase (CESA) superfamily includes a wide variety of glycosyltransferase family 2 enzymes that share the common characteristic of catalyzing the elongation of polysaccharide chains. The members include cellulose synthase catalytic subunit, chitin synthase, glucan biosynthesis protein and other families of CESA-like proteins. Cellulose synthase catalyzes the polymerization reaction of cellulose, an aggregate of unbranched polymers of beta-1,4-linked glucose residues in plants, most algae, some bacteria and fungi, and even some animals. In bacteria, algae and lower eukaryotes, there is a second unrelated type of cellulose synthase (Type II), which produces acylated cellulose, a derivative of cellulose. Chitin synthase catalyzes the incorporation of GlcNAc from substrate UDP-GlcNAc into chitin, which is a linear homopolymer of beta-(1,4)-linked GlcNAc residues and Glucan Biosynthesis protein catalyzes the elongation of beta-1,2 polyglucose chains of Glucan.
Glycosyltransferase like family 2. Members of this family of prokaryotic proteins include putative glucosyltransferase, which are involved in bacterial capsule biosynthesis.