Direct transfer of the phosphoryl moiety of mannitol 1-phosphate to [14C]mannitol catalyzed by the enzyme II complexes of the phosphoenolpyruvate: mannitol phosphotransferase systems in Spirochaeta aurantia and Salmonella typhimurium.

Spirochaeta aurantia possesses a phosphoenolpyruvate:mannitol phosphotransferase system which catalyzes the transmembrane transport and phosphorylation of mannitol. In vitro studies showed that both phosphoenolpyruvate and mannitol 1-phosphate could serve as phosphate donors. The phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent reaction required two soluble proteins, Enzyme SI and HPr, and an integral membrane complex, Enzyme SII. Only Enzyme SII was required for the mannitol 1-phosphate-dependent reaction. Enzyme II-dependent transphosphorylation of sugars was also demonstrated in eubacterial extracts. The results lead to the suggestion that the Enzyme II complexes of bacterial phosphotransferase systems possess nonoverlapping binding sites for sugar and sugar phosphate.