decaprenylphosphoryl

Decaprenylphosphoryl refers to a family of long-chain lipid carriers, specifically polyprenyl phosphates, used in bacterial cell wall biosynthesis. The term is most often encountered in connection with decaprenylphosphoryl sugar donors such as decaprenylphosphoryl-D-arabinose (DPA) and decaprenylphosphoryl-D-ribose (DPR). The decaprenyl moiety provides a hydrophobic anchor in the cytoplasmic membrane, while the phosphate links the sugar to the lipid carrier, enabling recognition and transfer by specific glycosyltransferases.

In actinobacteria, particularly Mycobacterium species, DPA serves as a key donor sugar for assembling the arabinan portion of arabinogalactan and lipoarabinomannan, essential components of the mycobacterial cell envelope. Biosynthesis begins with decaprenyl phosphate coupled to a sugar nucleotide to form a decaprenylphosphorylated sugar, which is then flipped across the membrane and transferred to growing polysaccharide chains. Enzymes involved in this pathway, including the steps that generate DPA, and the arabinosyltransferases that use DPA to extend arabinan, are critical for cell-wall assembly.

Because the decaprenylphosphoryl pathway is integral to cell-wall formation in these bacteria, its components are important targets in antimicrobial research. Inhibitors that disrupt DPA biosynthesis or the action of arabinosyltransferases can block cell-wall synthesis and exhibit antimycobacterial activity. Ethambutol, for example, targets arabinosyltransferases that utilize arabinose donated from DPA.

Beyond mycobacteria, decaprenylphosphoryl concepts appear in broader studies of lipid-linked glycan biosynthesis, where similar lipid carriers facilitate the assembly and export of diverse bacterial polysaccharides.