• Korean Journal of Microbiology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.93-98
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• 2005

The sphingosine kinase gene, which is 969-nucleotide long, was identified during the whole genome sequencing of Sphingomonas chungbukensis DJ77. The amino acid sequence showed the identity of $55\%$ with that of Zymomonas mobilis subsp. mobilis ZM4. C2, C3, and C5 domains of eukaryotic sphingosine kinase were found in sphingosine kinase from Sphingomonas chungbukensis DI77. One of these three conserved sites, GGDG, was predicted as a ATP-binding site, and the functions of the others were unknown currently. The phylogenetic tree constructed by ClustalX indicated that the sphingosine kinase of S. chungbukensis DJ77 was near the phylogenetic group COG1597, and did not belong to the group of diacylglycerol kinase of the same strain. The recombinant sphingosine kinase was expressed in Escherichia coli, but it was made in form of inclusion body.