Dental caries characterized by acid damage of tooth enamel is a persistent disease that begins with the formation of biofilms on the tooth surface. The secreted glucosyltransferases enable Streptococcus mutans to synthesize extracellular glucan polymers using ingested starch within the oral cavity, which eventually results in the production of acid, a contributing factor to cariogenesis. In this paper, we report the cloning, expression, purification, crystallization, and preliminary X-ray diffraction characterization of glucosyltransferase B.
