Mycobacterium tuberculosis PtkA is a novel protein tyrosine kinase whose substrate is PtpA.

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, signal transduction is mediated by 11 serine/threonine kinases, but no tyrosine kinases have been identified thus far. The protein encoded by the ORF (open reading frame) Rv2232 has been annotated as a member of the HAD (haloacid dehydrogenase-like hydrolase) superfamily, which includes phosphatases, phosphomanno- and phosphogluco-mutases, and haloacid dehydrogenases. In the present paper, we report, on the basis of biochemical and mutational analyses, that the Rv2232-encoded protein, named protein tyrosine kinase A (PtkA) is a bona fide protein tyrosine kinase. The cognate substrate of PtkA is the secreted protein tyrosine phosphatase A (PtpA).