Studies on the Substrate Specificity of Escherichia coli Galactokinase

In vitro glycorandomization (IVG) technology is dependent upon the ability to rapidly synthesize sugar phosphates. Compared with chemical synthesis, enzymatic (kinase) routes to sugar phosphates would be attractive for this application. This work focuses upon the development of a high-throughput colorimetric galactokinase (GalK) assay and its application toward probing the substrate specificity and kinetic parameters of Escherichia coli GalK. The demonstrated dinitrosalicylic assay should also be generally applicable to a variety of sugar-processing enzymes.