Structure, mechanism and engineering of plant natural product glycosyltransferases

Glycosylation is a key mechanism in determining chemical complexity and diversity of plant natural products, and influencing their chemical properties and bioactivities. Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferases (UGTs) are the central players in these glycosylation processes for decorating natural products with sugars. Crystal structures of plant UGTs have revealed their exquisite architectures and provided the structural basis for understanding their catalytic mechanism and substrate specificity. Structure-based UGT engineering can alter substrate specificity; compromise or enhance catalytic efficiency; and confer reversibility to the glycosylation reaction. This review highlights the structural insights on plant UGTs and successes in glycosylation engineering. (C) 2009 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.